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OUR STANDARD-BEARER; 



OK, THE LIFE OF 



GENERAL ULYSSES S.GRANT: 



ins youth, his MANHOOD, his campaigns, and his 

EMINENT SERVICES IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF 
THE NATION HIS SWORD HAS REDEEMED: 



AS SEEN AND RELATED 

By CAPTAIN BERNARD GALLIGASKEN, 

COSMOPOLITAN, 
AND W KITTEN OUT 

By OLIVER OPTIC. 




BOSTON: 
LEE AND SHEPARD. 

1868. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 
William T. Adams, 
In the Clerk'sOfflce of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



; ped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry. 
No. 19 Spring Luuc 



TO 

The Illustrious Soldier, 
GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT, 

President of the United States from March 4, 1SW), 
THE ONLY MAN 

WHO HAD THE MMTAL POWER, THE MORAL FORCE, THE 
MILITARY GENIUS TO SUPPRESS 

THE GREAT REBELLION, 

THE MIGHTIEST THE WORLD EVER SAW; 
THE MAN WHOM, 

FIRST IN WAR, 

AND 

FIRST IN THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN, 

THE NATION WILL SOON ACKNOWLEDGE TO BE 

FIRST IN PEACE, 

W$& Volume 

IS ADMIRINGLY AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY 



PREFACE. 



In this volume my friend Captain Galligasken has been 
permitted to tell his story very much in his own way. As I 
fully and heartily indorse his positions, fully and heartily 
share in his enthusiasm, my task has consisted of nothing 
more than merely writing the book; and I assure the reader 
that I have enjoyed quite as much as my friend the captain the 
pleasant contemplation of the brilliant deeds of the illustrious 
soldier. There is something positively inspiring in the follow- 
ing out of such a career as that of General Grant ; and when I 
declare that the enthusiasm of Captain Galligasken is nothing 
more than just and reasonable, I do it after a careful exami- 
nation of the grounds on which it is based ; after a patient, but 
exceedingly agreeable, study of the character of the man 
whom we have jointly eulogized ; and after instituting a critical 
comparison between the general and the mighty men of the 
present and the past. I have twice read all that I have writ- 
ten, and I find no occasion to add any qualifying words, and 
no reason to moderate the warm enthusiasm of the captain. 

As the candidate for the presidency of the dominant party in 
the land, all of General Grant's sayings and doings will be 
subjected to the closest scrutiny by his political opponents. 
All that he has said and all that he has done will be remorse- 
lessly distorted by savage critics. Partisan prejudice and 
partisan hatred will pursue him into the privacies of life, as 
well as through every pathway and avenue of his public 
career; but Captain Galligasken joins me in the confident 
belief that no man has ever been held up to the gaze of the 
American people who could stand the test better; hardly one 



6 PREFACE. 

who could stand it as well. In his private life the general 
has been pure and guileless, while in his public history he 
has been animated by the most noble and exalted patriotism, 
ever willing to sacrifice all that he was and all that he had for 
the cause in which he embarked. 

The study of the illustrious hero's motives and character 
has been exceedingly refreshing to me, as well as to my 
friend Captain Galligasken, as we analyzed together the influ- 
ences which guided him in his eventful experience. We were 
unable to find any of those selfish and belittling springs of 
action which rob great deeds of more than half their glory. 
We could see in him a simplicity of character which amazed 
us; a strength of mind, a singleness of heart, which caused 
us to envy Sherman and Sheridan the possession of such a 
man's friendship. Unlike most eminent men, whose very 
greatness has induced them to shake off more or less of the 
traits of ordinary humanity, our illustrious soldier is a lova- 
ble man — an attitude in which we are seldom permitted to 
regard great men. He stands in violent contrast with the 
bombastic heroes of all times — modest, gentle-hearted, and 
always approachable. There is none of the frigid reserve in 
his manner which awes common people in the contemplation 
of those exalted by mighty deeds or a lofty position. Captain 
Galligasken says all this upon his honor as a soldier and an 
historian; and from my own personal stand-point I cordially 
indorse his opinion, which, in both instances, is derived from 
actual experience. 

Captain Galligasken was somewhat afraid of the politi- 
cians, and not a little nervous at the possible manner those 
of the party to which he never had the honor to belong might 
regard his enthusiasm. I have taken the liberty to assure 
him that his enthusiasm is legitimate; that he has never 
manifested it except on suitable occasions; that the fact 
always specified in connection with the glowing eulogy am- 
ply justifies his praise. 1 was willing to go farther, and to 
insist that it was impossible for the politicians of his own or 
any other party to resist the conclusions, or withhold the 
homage, after the facts were admitted. 



PREFACE. 7 

And this matter of facts, the unclothed skeleton of reliable 
history and biography, is a point on which my friend Captain 
Galligasken is especially sensitive. Our library of reference 
in the agreeable task we have jointly performed included all 
the works bearing on the subject now extant in the country. 
We have used them liberally and faithfully, and, animated by 
a desire to set forth "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth " in regard to the illustrious soldier, the Captain 
feels entirely confident that he has produced a reliable history 
of all the important phases in his life. He has plentifully 
besprinkled his pages with anecdotes, some of which have 
never been related before, for they are the most telling illus- 
trations of individual character. 

We jointly acknowledge our indebtedness to General Adam 
Badeau's " Military History of Ulysses S. Grant," at once the 
most interesting and exhaustive work on the subject which 
has yet been issued, and which Captain Galligasken insists 
that every patriotic lover of the truth should read ; to " Ohio 
in the War ; " to "Grant and his Campaigns," by Professor 
Coppee, who had peculiar facilities for the performance of his 
task; to Howland's "Grant as a Soldier and a Statesman;" 
to Swinton's " Army of the Potomac;" to General Shanks's 
"Personal Recollections of Distinguished Generals;" and, in 
a less degree, to other volumes. Captain Galligasken is espe- 
cially desirous of acknowledging his obligations to his friend 
Pollard, author of "The Lost Cause," — though he thinks 
Grant is the chief author of the lost cause, — not only for the 
citations he has taken the liberty to make from the book, but 
also for some of the heartiest laughs he ever had in his life. 
We tender our personal thanks to those kind friends — whose 
names we are not even permitted to mention — for facts, 
suggestions, and anecdotes. 

When our enterprising and discriminating publishers in- 
sisted upon just this Life of General Grant, — which I should 
not have been willing to undertake without the indispensable 
aid of my cheerful friend the captain, — we gladly accepted the 
agreeable task; but I noticed that Captain Galligasken ap- 
peared to be disturbed in his mind about something. I asked 



8 PREFACE. 

him what it was. He replied by asking me what possible 
excuse a humble individual like himself could offer for inflict- 
ing upon the patient, much-enduring community another Life 
of General Grant, who was even then more fortunate than a 
cat, for he had more than " nine lives." I bade him tell the 
reason, and he did. 

"Because I can't help it," he replied; "because I desire to 
have the people of the United States see General Grant just 
as I see him. He has been nominated by the National Repub- 
lican party as its candidate for the presidency, on a platform 
which every patriot, every Christian, heartily indorses, and 
which is the sum total of the general's political creed. I wish, 
if I can, to do something for his election ; and I am fully per- 
suaded that all the people would vote for him if they under- 
stood the man. I am no politician, never held an office, and 
never expect to hold one ; but I believe in Grant above and 
beyond all party considerations. I respect, admire, and love 
the man. I glory in his past, and I am confident of his future. 
I honestly, sincere^, and heartily believe every word we have 
written. Nothing but the election of Grant can save the 
nation from the infamy of practical repudiation, from the dis- 
tractions which have shaken the land since the close of the 
Rebellion, if not from another civil war and the ultimate dis- 
solution of the Union. I hope the people will read our book, 
think well, and be as enthusiastic as I am." 

It affords me very great pleasure, again and finally, to be 
able to indorse my friend Captain Galligasken. He is sin- 
cere ; and before my readers condemn his enthusiasm, I beg 
to inquire how they can escape his conclusions. All we ask 
is a fair hearing, and we are confident that the people who 
sustained Grant through the war will enable him to finish in 
the presidential chair the glorious work he began on the 
battle-fields of the republic. 

Oliver Optic. 

Haiuuson Square, Mass., 
July 11, i»G8. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 

Wherein Captain Galligasken modestly disparages him- 
self, and sets forth with becoming Enthusiasm the 
Virtues of the illustrious Soldier whose Life he insists 
upon writing x 5 

CHAPTER II. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken delineates the early History 
of the illustrious Soldier, and deduces therefrom the 
Presages of future Greatness 26 

CHAPTER III. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken " talks Horse," and illus- 
trates the Subject with some Anecdotes from the Life 
of the illustrious Soldier 36 

CHAPTER IV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious Sol- 
dier to West Point, and dilates admiringly upon the 
many excellent Traits of Character which the Hero 

exhibited there 4^ 

(9) 



IO CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 



Wherein Captain Galligasken accompanies the illustrious 
Soldier to Mexico, and glowingly dilates upon the 
gallant Achievements of our Arms from Palo Alto to 
Monterey 56 

CHAPTER VI. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken marches with the illus- 
trious Soldier to the Halls of the Montezumas, and 
glowingly describes the brilliant Campaign in Mexico. 66 

CHAPTER VII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken goes with the illustrious 
Soldier to the Farm near St. Louis, and observes his 
Career through various Misfortunes, till he is included 
in the Firm of Grant & Sons 76 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken discourses upon the break- 
ing out of the Rebellion, and describes the noble and 
modest Behavior of the illustrious Soldier S6 

CHAPTER IX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken has Something to say about 
Citizen Soldiers, and follows the illustrious Soldier into 
the Field in Missouri 96 

CHAPTER X. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken relates a pleasing Anec- 
dote of the illustrious Soldier, and shows how and why 
he captured Paducah 106 



CONTENTS. 1 1 



CHAPTER XL 



Wherein Captain Galligasken describes the Battle of Bel- 
mont, and further illustrates the military Qualities of 
the illustrious Soldier, as exhibited in that fierce Fight. 117 

CHAPTER XII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken rehearses the persistent 
Efforts of the illustrious Soldier to obtain Permission 
to attack Fort Henry,- and follows him to the Capture 
of that important Position 12S 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken states the Results of the 
Victory at Fort Henry, and attends the illustrious 
Soldier in the Investment of Fort Donelson. . . . 138 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious Sol- 
dier to the Victory at Fort Donelson, and points out the 
Nature and Extent of that splendid Achievement. . . 148 

CHAPTER XV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious Sol- 
dier through the Period of his temporary Disgrace and 
triumphant Vindication to the opening Scenes at Shiloh. 158 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken views the illustrious Soldier 
in the Battle of Shiloh, and corrects some popular Errors 
in regard to that savage Fight 17° 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken finishes the Battle of Shi- 
loh, and sympathizes with the illustrious Soldier in his 
unmerited Disgrace while he is waiting, waiting, before 

Corinth •' 

CHAPTER XVIII. 



i So 



Wherein Captain Galligasken treats of the Corinth Cam- 
paign, and admiringly calls Attention to the splendid 
Abilities of the illustrious Soldier as a District Com- 
mander I 9 I 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken shows how six Months 
were spent around Vicksburg by the illustrious Soldier, 
and how the President rather liked the Man, and 
thought he would try him a little longer 201 

CHAPTER XX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken illustrates the Temperance 
Principles of the illustrious Soldier, and proceeds with 
him on his conquering Path to the Capital of Missis- 
sippi 2I1 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious Sol- 
dier through the Campaign in Mississippi to the Siege 
and Surrender of Vicksburg 223 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken sums up the magnificent 
Results of the Capture of Vicksburg, and starts with 



CONTENTS. 13 

the illustrious Soldier for Chattanooga, after his Ap- 
pointment to the Command of the combined Armies 
of the Tennessee, the Cumberland, and the Ohio. . . 234 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken details the Means by which 
the illustrious Soldier relieved the Army of the Cum- 
berland, and traces his Career to the glorious Victory 
of Chattanooga 246 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken has Something more to say 
about the glorious Campaign of Chattanooga, and il- 
lustrates some of the personal Characteristics of the 
illustrious Soldier. . . ' 259 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious Sol- 
dier to Washington, where, after enduring many Hard- 
ships, he is commissioned Lieutenant General in the 
Army of the United States 272 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken has Something to say 
about the illustrious Soldier's Views of Strategy, and 
follows him across the Rapidan into The Wilderness. . 284 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the Campaign of 
the Army of the Potomac, and the illustrious Soldier 
announces that he shall fight it out on that Line, if it 
takes all Summer 296 



14 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken describes in brief Detail 
the Siege of Petersburg and Richmond, and attends 
the illustrious Soldier to the End of the Campaign at 
Appomattox Court House 310 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken has a few Words to say 
about Lee's Surrender, and demonstrates to his own 
and his Reader's entire Satisfaction, that the illustrious 
Soldier is not an accidental Hero 323 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious Sol- 
dier in his Career after the War, relates several Anec- 
dotes of him, and respectfully invites the whole World 

tO MATCH HIM 337 



OR, THE 

Life of General Ulysses S. Grant. 



chapter I. 



Wherein Captain Galligasken modestly disparages 
himself, and sets forth with becoming Enthusiasm 
the Virtues of the illustrious Soldier whose Life 
he insists upon writing. 

WHO am I? It makes not the least difference 
who I am. If I shine at all in this veritable 
history, — which I honestly confess I have not the 
slightest desire to do, — it will be only in the reflected 
radiance of that great name which has become a 
household word in the home of every loyal citizen, 
north ancf south, of this mighty Republic ; a name 
that will shine with transcendent lustre as his fame 
rings along down the grand procession of the ages, 
growing brighter and more glorious the farther it is 
removed from the petty jealousies of contemporaneous 
heroes, statesmen, and chroniclers. 

(15) 



1 6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

What am I ? It does not make the least difference 
what I am. I am to chronicle the deeds of that illus- 
trious soldier, the providential man of the Great Re- 
bellion, who beat down the strongholds of Treason by 
the force of his mighty will, and by a combination of 
moral and mental qualifications which have been 
united in no other man, either in the present or the 
past. 

What was Washington? God bless him ! A wise 
and prudent statesman, a devoted patriot, the savior 
of the new-born nationality. 

What was Napoleon? The greatest soldier of the 
century which ended with the battle of Waterloo. 

What was Andrew Jackson? The patriot states- 
man, who had a will of his own. 

What were Cassar, Wellington, Marlborough, Scott? 
All strong men, great soldiers, devoted patriots. 

What is the Great Captain, the illustrious hero of 
the Modern Republic? He is all these men united 
into one. He has held within the grasp of his mighty 
thought larger armies than any other general "who is 
worthy to be mentioned in comparison with him, 
controlling their movements, and harmonizing their 
action throughout a territory vastly larger than that 
comprised in the battle-grounds of Europe for a 
century. 

Washington was great in spite of repeated defeats. 
Grant is great through a long line of brilliant suc- 
cesses. Napoleon won victories, and then clothed 
himself in the scarlet robes of an emperor, seated 
himself on a Jhrone, and made his country's glory only 
the lever of his own glory. Grant won victories not 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 7 

less brilliant, and then modestly smoked his cigar on 
the grand level of the people, diffidently accepting 
any such honors as a grateful people thrust upon 
him. 

As I yield the tribute of admiring homage to Wash- 
ington that he put the Satan of sovereign power be- 
hind him when he was tempted with the glittering 
bait, I am amazed that Grant, the very idol of a mil- 
lion veteran soldiers, permitted his sword to rest in its 
scabbard while his recreant superior, by the accident 
of the assassin's bullet, dared to thwart the will of the 
people whose ballots had elevated him to power. I 
can almost worship him for his forbearance under the 
keenest insults to which the sensitive soul of a true 
soldier can be subjected, that he did not smite his cun- 
ning traducer, and did not even appeal to the people. 

Who am I? If I am seen at all in this true narra- 
tive of a sublime life, I beg to be regarded as the most 
humble and least deserving of Columbia's chosen 
sons, but standing, for the moment, on a pedestal, and 
blushingly pointing to the historic canvas, whereon is 
delineated the triumphal career of the Great Man of 
the nineteenth century ; the successful General, tower- 
ing in lofty preeminence above every other man, who 
in the days of darkness struck a blow for the redemp- 
tion of the nation ; the fledged Statesman, who, with- 
out being a politician, apprehended and vitalized the 
chosen policy of the sovereign people. I am nothing ; 
he is everything. 

I am an enthusiast ! 

Is there nothing in The Man, sublimated by glori- 
ous deeds, elevated by a conquering will far above his 

2 



1 8 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

fellows, almost deified by the highest development of 
godlike faculties, — is there nothing in The Man to 
quicken the lazy flow in the veins of the beholder? 
Can I, who marched from Belmont to Appomattox 
Court House, by the way of Donelson, Vicksburg, 
Chattanooga, Spottsylvania, Petersburg, and Five 
Forks, who have, since the collapse of the rebellion, 
gazed, in common with the Senators and Representa- 
tives in Congress, the Governors of the states, the 
President, and the heads of the departments of state, 
the sovereign people, with friends and with foes of 
the regenerated country, — can I, who have gazed with 
the most intense interest at the little two-story brick 
building in the nation's capital, where smoked and 
labored the genius of the war, to see what that one 
man would do, to hear what that one man would say, 
— can I gaze and listen without realizing the throb 
which heaves the mighty heart of the nation? I felt 
as they felt, that there was only one man in the land. 
It mattered little what senators and representatives 
enacted in the halls of Congress, if he did not indorse 
it. It mattered little what the Nation's Accident 
vetoed, if he but approved it. It was of little conse- 
quence what rebels north or rebels south planned 
and plotted, if only this one man frowned upon it. 
Reconstruction could flourish only in his smile. If a 
department commander ambitiously or stupidly belied 
his war record, and attempted to bolster up with this 
diplomacy the treason which he had put down with 
his sword, the howl of the loyal millions was changed 
into a shout of exultation, if the one man in the little 
two-story brick building in Washington only nodded 



LIFE OF GENEKER ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 9 

his disapproval of the course of the recreant. That 
man has been the soul of the people's policy of re- 
construction. Conscious that he was its friend, it 
mattered not who was its enemy ; for foes could 
delay, but not defeat it. 

Can I be unmoved while I look at The Man? 
When I behold a huge steamship, the giant of the 
deep, threading its way through night and storm over 
the pathless ocean, from continent to continent, her- 
self a miracle to the eye, I wonder. When I see the 
electric telegraph, flashing a living thought from far- 
thest east to farthest west, and even along its buried 
channel in the depths of the storm-tossed ocean, I 
wonder. Can I gaze unmoved upon the Man, the 
Fulton, the Morse, from whose busy brain, lighted up 
by an inspiration from the Infinite, which common 
men cannot even understand, came forth the grand 
conception of these miracles of science? 

I am an enthusiast. I cannot gaze at the spectacle 
of a nation rent and shattered by the most stupendous 
treason that ever fouled historic annals, restored to 
peace and unity, without a thrill of emotion. I can- 
not follow our gallant armies in imagination now, as 
I did in reality then, in their triumphal march from 
the gloom of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville to 
the glorious light and sunshine of Vicksburg and Five 
Forks, from death at Bull Run, to life at Fort Don- 
elson, without having my heart leap with grateful 
enthusiasm. 

In the ghastly midnight of disaster, when the na- 
tion's pulse almost ceased to beat in dread and anxiety 
for the fearful issue, we had men — hundreds of thou- 



20 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

sands, millions of men, the bravest and truest soldiers 
that ever bore a musket. Thousands and tens of 
thousands of them sleep beneath the bloody sod of 
Antietam, in the miry swamps of the Chickahominy, 
and under the parching soil of the southern savannas, 
where they sank to their rest with the field uncon- 
quered above them. There they slumber, each of 
them a willing sacrifice, if his death brought the nation 
but one hair's breadth nearer to the final redemption, 
or could add one ray to the flood of light which the 
peace they prayed for would shed upon the land 
beloved. 

There was no lack of men, and pure patriots prayed 
for a leader. They sighed for a Washington, a Na- 
poleon, a Wellington, to guide their swelling masses 
of ardent warriors from the gloom of disaster to the 
brightness of victory. Chiefs, mighty in battle, pure 
in purpose, skilful in device and execution, reared 
their banners successively at the head of the valiant 
hosts, then drooped and fell, as the hot blast of jeal- 
ousy swept over them, or they became entangled in 
the silken meshes of adulation. In none of these did 
the soldiers find their true leader, though they fought 
fiercely and fell in horrid slaughter under all of 
them. 

It was only when the soul of the mustered hosts 
was fired by the sublime fact of a worthy leader, and 
their muscles nerved by the will of a mighty champi- 
on, that the thundering march of victory commenced, 
and the triumphal car of the conqueror swept like 
a whirlwind through the war-stricken South. Then 
treason trembled, tottered, fell. Then the infatuated 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 21 

leaders of rebellion wailed in terror, and fled from the 
halter that dangled over their heads. Then the one 
man of the war towered like a giant above his fel- 
lows. Then he stood forth as the nation's savior, and 
a generous people placed the laurel on his brow. 

I am an enthusiast as I review the history of my 
country from 1862 to the present time. I watched 
with McClellan in the oozy swamps of Virginia, when 
he feared to risk his popularity by striking an aven- 
ging stroke at the exposed foe, and I joined in singing 
the paean of victory with Grant after Five Forks, 
when the final blow had been given to the rebellion. 
Therefore am I enthusiastic. 

The people acknowledged the greatness of Grant's 
military genius, the tremendous power of his will, and 
the unflinching earnestness of his patriotism. Then, 
while salvos of artillery throughout the loyal land 
proclaimed the victory to the astonished nations, we 
hailed Grant as our standard-bearer. 

If I am enthusiastic, so are the people, to their 
honor and glory be it said. I shall only ask to be 
their mouthpiece, assured that I cannot exceed their 
estimate of the hero. What he was in the storm of 
battle, he is in the calm pursuits of peace. What he 
was among the soldiers, he is among the citizens. 
As he possessed the unlimited confidence of the " boys 
in blue," so has he the unlimited confidence of the 
people. They are full of gratitude to him for the 
past, full of trust in him for the present, and full of 
hope in him for the future. In a tone more enthusi- 
astic, and a voice more united than ever before since 
the days of Washington, the people have declared that 



22 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Grant shall still be our standard-bearer, and I am 
more enthusiastic than ever. 

Presumptuous as it may be in one so humble and 
little deserving as I am to intrude himself upon the 
public eye, I insist upon giving my views of the life 
of General Grant. I claim to know all about the 
distinguished subject of my story — which is no story 
at all, inasmuch as every word of it, so far as it 
relates to the general, is only the living truth, as I 
understand it. Even if my kind and courteous read- 
ers should deem me a myth, I shall only have won 
the obscurity I covet, and succeed in concentrating 
their attention upon the illustrious man whose im- 
mortal name I reverently utter, and whose undying 
deeds I seek to illustrate. 

I wish to say in the beginning, that I hold it to be 
the sacred duty of the historian to tell the truth, so 
far as in him lies. For this reason I have taken the 
trouble, in this initial chapter of my work, to explain 
at some length the grounds of my individual en- 
thusiasm in speaking and writing of the illustrious 
subject of this memoir. The fact, and my view of 
the fact, are two essentially different things. I shall 
state facts as I find them ; and whatever view my in- 
dulgent reader may entertain in regard to me and my 
views, I assure him, on the honor of an historian, 
that all my statements are true, and worthy of the 
utmost credit. 

Others may not be willing to agree with me in all 
respects in my estimate of particular events or inci- 
dents in the life of my illustrious subject, though I am 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 23 

persuaded there can be no essential difference in our 
view of the sum-total of the general — that he must 
stand unchallenged as the greatest man and the great- 
est soldier of the nineteenth century, if not of all time. 
A proper regard for the sacred truth of history com- 
pels me to make this declaration, which I do without 
the fear of a denial. 

I have been very much pained to observe that my 
friend, Mr. Pollard, author of " The Lost Cause," 
has arrived at an estimate of the merit of our dis- 
tinguished general, which is, in some respects, different 
from my own. Perhaps my valued contemporary was 
unable to derive the necessary inspiration from his 
subject to enable him to do full justice to the shining 
abilities of some of the heroes who, unfortunately for 
The Lost Cause, were on the other side of the un- 
pleasant controversy. Doubtless Mr. Pollard meant 
well ; but it is painful to find that he has, in some 
cases, exhibited symptoms of prejudice, especially 
towards General Grant, who does -not seem to be a 
favorite general with him. I notice also on his pages 
a degree of partiality towards General Lee which 
greatly astonishes me. After a careful examination 
of Mr. Pollard's voluminous work, I am surprised and 
grieved to find that he actually regards Lee, in the 
matter of soldier-like qualities and in generalship, as 
the superior of Grant ! 

I confess my surprise at his singular position ; but 
in view of the fact that he is writing the history of 
" The Lost Cause " — lost, the world acknowledges, 
through the active agency of General Grant, — I am 



2 4 



OUR STANDARD-BEAKER, OR 



disposed to palliate, though not to excuse, my friend's 
departures from the sacred line of historic truth. Mr. 
Lee is doubtless a very amiable and kind-hearted 
gentleman, though we must protest against his in- 
humanity to the Belle Island prisoners ; but I object 
to any comparison of him, as a general, with Grant. 
When Mr. Pollard shall have time to go over the 
ground again, he will see his blunders, and, being an 
honest man, he will have the hardihood to correct 
them. Then "The Lost Cause" will be to him, as 
to the rest of mankind, a monument of the folly and 
wickedness of those who engaged in it, a solemn 
warning to traitors and conspirators, and the best 
panegyric of the true hero of the war which a rebel 
pen could indite. 

Though, as I said before, it makes no difference 
who or what I am, it will be no more than courtesy 
for me to satisfy the reasonable curiosity of my read- 
ers on these points, before I enter upon the pleasant 
task before me. « Though one of my ancestors, some 
ten generations back, was born in the parish of Blar- 
ney, in the County of Cork, Ireland, I was not born 
there. Sir Bernard Galligasken — whose name, shorn 
of its aristocratic handle, I have the honor to bear — 
was one of the earliest known, at the present time, 
of our stock, and emigrated to Scotland, where he 
married one of the Grants of Aberdeenshire. My 
more immediate progenitor came over in the May- 
flower, and landed on Plymouth Rock, for which, on 
this account, as well as because I love the principles 
of those stalwart men of the olden time, I have ever 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 25 

had the most profound veneration. Early in the 
present century my parents removed from Eastern 
Massachusetts to the Great West. 

I was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822. 
By a singular coincidence (on my side) was born in 
the same town, and on the same day, Hiram Ulysses 
Grant. 



26 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER II. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken delineates the early 
History of the illustrious Soldier, and deduces 
therefrom the Presages of Future Greatness. 

I RESPECTFULLY subscribe myself a cosmopol- 
itan, not in the sense that I am a citizen of the 
world — God forbid! for I am too proud of my title 
as an American citizen to share my nationality with 
any other realm under the sun. I am cosmopolitan 
in the " everywhere " significance of the term ; and it 
has been a cause of sincere regret to me that I could 
only be in one place at one time ; but I ought to be 
content, since I always happened to be in sight or 
hearing of the illustrious subject of my feeble admi- 
ration. 

Point Pleasant is a village on the Ohio, twenty-five 
miles above Cincinnati, celebrated for nothing in par- 
ticular, except being the birthplace of General Grant, 
which, however, is glory enough for any town ; and 
passengers up and down the beautiful river, for gen- 
erations to come, will gaze with wondering interest at 
its spires, because there first drew the breath of life 
the immortal man who has been and still is Our 
Standard-Bearer. 

Many people have a fanatical veneration for blood as 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 27 

such. I confess I yield no allegiance to this senti- 
ment, for I expect to be what I make myself, rather 
than what I am made by my distinguished ancestor, 
Sir Bernard Galligasken. But those who attach any 
weight to pedigree may be reasonably gratified in the 
solid character of the progenitors of General Grant. 
He came from the Grants of Aberdeenshire, in Scot- 
land, whose heraldic motto was, "Stand fast, stand 
firm, stand sure!" which, by an astonishing pre- 
science of the seers of the clan, seems to have been 
invented expressly«to describe the moral and mental 
attributes of the illustrious soldier of our day. 

Matthew Grant was a passenger in the Mary and 
John, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 
1630. The American citizen, whose pride tempts 
him to look beyond the Pilgrim Fathers for glorious 
ancestors, ought to have been born in England, where 
pride of birth bears its legitimate fruit. Grant came 
in a direct line from one of these worthies ; but I 
never heard him congratulate himself even on this 
fortunate and happy origin. Noah Grant, a descen- 
dant of the stout Puritan, emigrated to Connecticut, 
and was a captain in the Old French War. He was 
killed in battle, in 1756, having attained the rank 
of captain. His son, also taking the patriarchal 
name, was belligerent enough to have been killed in 
battle, for he was a soldier in the revolutionary war 
from Lexington — where he served as a lieutenant — 
to Yorktown, the last engagement of that seven years' 
strife. This faithful soldier was the general's grand- 
father. He had a son named for Mr. Chief Justice 
Jesse Root, of Connecticut, who was the father of 
Our Standard-Bearer. 



28 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Jesse Root Grant was born in Pennsylvania, but 
when he was ten years of age his parents removed to 
the Western Reserve of Ohio. He was apprenticed 
to a tanner at Maysville, Kentucky, when he was six- 
teen, and set up in business for himself at Ravenna, 
Ohio, when he was of age ; but severe illness com- 
pelled him to relinquish it for a time. In 1S20 he 
settled at Point Pleasant, and married Miss Hannah 
Simpson. Here, in a little one-story house, still in 
existence, was born the subject of our story. 

The house in which Peter the Qreat lived at Sar- 
dam while he worked at ship-building is still pre- 
served, enclosed within another, tableted with inscrip- 
tions, and protected from the ravages of time for the 
inspection of future ages. I wonder that some ardent 
patriot has not already done a similar service to the 
little structure in which was born a greater than Czar 
Peter, and one whose memory will be cherished when 
the autocrat of the Russias is forgotten. 

The house is a mere shanty, which was comfortable 
enough in its day, with an extension in the rear, and 
with the chimney on the outside of one end. It was 
a good enough house even for so great a man to be 
born in, and compares very favorably with that in 
which Lincoln, his co-laborer in the war, first drew 
the breath of life. It has become historic now, and 
the people will always regard it with glowing in- 
terest. 

Grant's mother was a very pretty, but not preten- 
tious, girl ; a very worthy, but not austere, matron. 
She was a member of the Methodist church, with 
high views of Christian duty, especially in regard to 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 29 

her children, whom she carefully trained and earnestly 
watched over in their early years. Her influence as a 
noble Christian woman has had, and is still to have, 
through her illustrious son, more weight and broader 
expansion than she ever dreamed of in the days of 
her poverty and toil. 

A year after the birth of the first born, Jesse Grant, 
then a poor man, though he afterwards accumulated 
a handsome property, removed from Point Pleasant 
to Georgetown, Ohio, where he carried on his busi- 
ness as a tanner ; and as he tanned with nothing but 
oak bark, and did his work in a superior manner, his 
reputation was excellent. I am hard on leather 
myself, but my first pair of shoes was made of leather 
from the tannery of J. R. Grant, and they wore like 
iron. It has been observed that this leather, made up 
into thick boots, was more effectual than any other 
when applied by the indignant owner to the purpose 
sometimes necessary, though always disagreeable, of 
kicking an unmannerly and ill-behaved ruffian out of 
doors. Though I have not had occasion to test Mr. 
Grant's leather in this direction, I am a firm believer 
in its virtue. 

I cannot say that, as a baby, Ulysses had any fore- 
shadowings of the brilliant destiny in store for him. 
It is quite possible that his fond mother regarded him 
as a remarkable child, if the neighbors in Georgetown 
did not. Certainly, in this instance, she was nearer 
right than loving mothers usually are, and is entitled 
to much credit for the justness of her view on this 
interesting subject. I am confident that the infant 
Hercules displayed some of the energy of character 



30 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

which has distinguished his manhood — that he de- 
clined to be washed, and held on to dangerous play- 
things, with greater tenacity than children of tender 
years usually do. Still, the sacredness of historic 
truth does not permit me to assume that he displayed 
any of the traits of a great general, except the embryo 
of his mighty will, until he had attained his second 
year, when the first decided penchant for the roar of 
artillery manifested itself on a small scale. 

My friend Mr. Pollard alludes to the incident in 
his valuable work on The Lost Cause, though, I am 
pained to observe, in a tone of disparagement quite 
unworthy of him, as a " Yankee affectation." As he 
seems to have no scruples in telling strange stories about 
Stonewall Jackson, Jeb. Stuart, and other Southern 
worthies, I am compelled to attribute this incredulity 
and ridicule to a foolish prejudice. Though I hap- 
pened to be present when the event occurred, — a cos- 
mopolitan then, as now, — I was in the arms of my 
maternal parent, and being only two years old at the 
time, I am unable to vouch for its truth on my own 
personal recollection ; but the father of General Grant 
has confirmed it. 

" Let me try the effect of a pistol report on the 
baby," said a young man to the anxious parent in the 
street, on the fourth of July, where great numbers of 
people were gathered. 

" The child has never seen a pistol or a gun in his 
life," replied Mr. Grant ; " but you may try it." 

The hand of the baby was placed on the trigger, 
and pressed there till the lock sprang, and the pistol 
went off with a loud report. The future commander- 
in-chief hardly moved or twitched a muscle. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 3 1 

" Fick it again ! fick it again ! " cried the child, 
pushing away the weapon, and desiring to have the 
experiment repeated. 

" That boy will make a general ; he neither winked 
nor dodged," added the inevitable bystander, a cosmo- 
politan like myself, who is ever at hand on momen- 
tous occasions. 

To me, the trait of character exhibited by the child 
is not so much the type of a taste for the rattle of 
musketry and the odor of gunpowder as of a higher 
manifestation of soldier-like qualities. After weary 
days and long nights of the thunder of cannon at 
Donelson, when ordinary generals would have been 
disgusted and disheartened by continued failure, Grant 
persevered, not knowing that be had been beaten, and 
in tones full of grand significance, though in speech 
more mature, he repeats his order, — 

" Fick it again ! fick it again ! " 

When canal, and squadron, and repeated assaults 
had failed to reduce Vicksburg, and friend and foe 
believed that the place was invulnerable. Grant seemed 
to shout, — 

" Fick it again ! fick it again ! " 

When, after the terrible onslaught of the Union 
army at the Wilderness, no advantage seemed to have 
been gained, and the time came when Grant's prede- 
cessors had fled to recruit in a three months' respite, 
the heroic leader only said, in substance, — . 

" Fick it again ! fick it again ! " 

At Spottsylvania he hurled his army again at the 
rebel host, and then fought battle after battle, never 
completely succeeding, but never turning his eye or 



32 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

his thought from the object to be gained : he still 
maintained his baby philosophy, and still issued the 
order of the day, which was, practically, — 

" Fick it again ! fick it again ! " 

That celebrated telegram, sent to Secretary Stanton, 
which thrilled the hearts of the waiting people as they 
listened for the tidings of battle, and which was a most 
significant exponent of the man's character and pur- 
pose, " I shall fight it out on this line, if it takes all 
summer," was only another rendering of his childish 
exclamation, — 

" Fick it again ! fick it again ! " 

Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, Richmond, the Rebel- 
lion itself, were fully and completely " ticked," in the 
end, by the carrying out of his policy. It is an excel- 
lent rule, when a plan does not work in one way, to 
" fick" it again. 

Grant's father was too poor at this time to send 
him to school steadily, for the boy was an industrious 
fellow, and had a degree of skill and tact in the man- 
agement of work that rendered him a very useful 
assistant. He went to school three months in winter 
till he was eleven, when even this meagre privilege 
was denied him, and his subsequent means of educa- 
tion were very limited. But his opportunities were 
fully improved, and he heartily devoted himself to the 
cultivation of his mind. He was the original dis- 
coverer of the fact that there is no such word as 
"can't" in the dictionary; and it appears never to 
have been added to his vocabulary. Grant's diction- 
ary was a capital one for practical service ; and if 
some of our generals had used this excellent edition, 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 33 

their own fame and the country's glory would have 
been thereby promoted. 

It affords me very great pleasure to be able to tes- 
tify, in the most decided manner, that Grant was a 
patriot in his boyhood, as well as in the later years of 
his life. As an American youth, he had a just and 
proper reverence for the name of Washington, which 
is the symbol of patriotism to our countrymen. 
Grant's cousin from Canada came to live with his 
uncle for a time in Georgetown, and went to school 
with the juvenile hero. This lad, though born under 
the shadow of the Star-spangled Banner, had im- 
bibed some pestilent notions from the Canadians, 
and had the audacity to speak ill of the immor- 
tal Washington. This was not the only time that 
Americans from Canada have assailed their native 
land, nor was this the only time that Ulysses had the 
honor of fighting the battle directly or indirectly 
against them. On the present occasion, in spite of 
the oft-repeated admonition of his pious mother to 
forgive his enemies and not to fight, he pitched into 
the renegade and thrashed him soundly, as he de- 
served to be thrashed. I never spoke ill of Washing- 
ton, but I should esteem it a great honor to have been 
thrashed by Ulysses S. Grant in such a cause ; and 
doubtless his cousin, if still living, and not a Canadian, 
is proud of his whipping. 

Grant appears not to have been a brilliant horse- 
trader, at least not after the tactics of jockeys in 
general, though in this, as in all other purposes, he 
carried his point. At the age of twelve his father 
sent him to buy a certain horse — and it ought to be 
3 



34 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

remarked that his worthy sire seems to have had as 
much confidence in him at that time as the sovereign 
people of the present day manifest in him. He was 
instructed to offer fifty dollars for the animal ; then 
fifty-five if the first offer failed, with the limit at sixty. 
Ralston, the owner of the horse, wished to know how 
much the youthful purchaser was authorized by his 
father to give for the animal. Ulysses, with a degree 
of candor which would have confounded an ordinary 
jockey, explained his instructions in full, and of 
course the owner asked the maximum sum for him. 

Though the youth had " shown his hand," he was 
not the easy victim he was supposed to be. He posi- 
tively refused to give more than fifty dollars for the 
horse, after he had seen and examined him. He had 
made up his mind, and the horse was purchased for 
that sum. I think Grant bought out the Rebellion in 
about the same way ; for while he was ready to pay 
" fifty-five," or even ' ; sixty," for the prize of a nation's 
peace and unity, the rebels came down at the " fifty." 

Grant was a good boy, in the reasonable sense of 
the term, though he did not die young. I never heard 
that he made any extravagant pretensions to piety 
himself, or that any one ever made any for him, 
though he attended church himself regularly, and had 
a profound respect for religious worship. He was' a 
sober, quiet little fellow, indulged in no long speeches 
then any more than now. He was a youth of emi- 
nent gravity, rather an old head on young shoul- 
ders, and I am only surprised that neither his 
parents nor his instructors discovered in him the germ 
of greatness. As the child is father to the man, all 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 35 

the records of his early years concur in showing that 
he exhibited the same traits of character then as now. 
The phrenologist who examined Ulysses' "bumps," 
and declared that " it would not be strange " if he be- 
came the President of the United States, exhibited more 
intelligence than others within the ring ; but I am 
provoked with him that he did not state the case 
stronger ; for if there is anything at all in phrenology, 
the gentleman ought to have been confident of this 
result. Any man may become President, as the stu- 
pendous accident of the present generation has shown, 
but every man is not fit for the place. It is vastly 
better to be qualified to fill the high position, than it 
is even to fill it. As Grant was the providential man 
of the war, so shall he be the providential man of 
the peace that follows it in the highest office within 
the gift of the people. No accident can cheat him out 
of his destiny, which he willingly accepts, more for 
the glory of the nation than of the individual. 



$6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER III. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken " talks Horse" and 
illustrates the Subject with some Anecdotes from 
the Life of the illustrious Soldier. 

THE horse is a noble animal, and it is by no 
means remarkable that a bond of sympathy has 
been established between great men and good horses. 
I have noticed that distinguished generals are always 
mounted on splendid steeds — a fact of which painters 
and sculptors have availed themselves in their de- 
lineations, on canvas or in marble, of the heroes and 
mighty men of history. Bucephalus, the war-charger 
of Alexander the Great, seems to be almost a part of 
the Macedonian conqueror ; Washington, in the vari- 
ous equestrian attitudes in which he is presented to the 
admiring gaze of the people by the artist, appears to 
gain power and dignity from the noble steed he rides ; 
and scores of lesser heroes, dismounted and detached 
from the horse, would, so far as the eye is concerned, 
slip down from the pedestal of grandeur to the level 
of common men. Though it is sometimes unfortunate 
that the limner's idea of the man is better than of the 
horse, it will be universally acknowledged that the 
gallant steed adds dignity and grace to the hero. 

Although it has not yet been the good fortune of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 37 

American people to behold any worthy equestrian 
delineation of our illustrious soldier, either on canvas 
or in marble, yet the popular ideal would represent 
him as a sort of Centaur — half horse and half Grant. 
While I am by no means willing to acknowledge that 
every man who "talks horse" is necessarily a great 
man, it is undeniable that great military geniuses have 
figured attractively and appropriately in intimate asso- 
ciation with this intelligent and noble animal. The 
inspired writers used the horse to add grandeur and 
sublimity to their imagery, and St. John's vision of 
Death on the Pale Horse thrills the soul by the bold- 
ness of the equestrian attitude in which it places the 
grim destroyer. 

The centaur which the American people idolize is 
not an unworthy combination, and neither the man 
nor the horse loses by the association. From the 
time the embryo hero could go alone — if there ever 
was a time when he could not go alone — Grant fan- 
cied the horse ; Grant loved the horse ; Grant con- 
quered the horse. 

Bucephalus was offered for sale to Philip by a 
Thessalian horse-jockey. He was a glorious horse, 
but neither groom nor courtier could handle him. So 
fierce was his untamed will, that the king ordered the 
jockey to take him away ; but Alexander, grieved at 
the thought of losing so fine a steed, remonstrated 
with his father, who promised to buy him if his son 
would ride him. Alexander did ride him, and the 
horse became his war-charger in all his campaigns. 

In his early and intimate association with the horse, 
young Grant exhibited the force of his immense 



38 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

will, even more effectively than his Macedonian pro- 
totype. • 

When children of seven " talk horse," they do so at 
a respectful distance from the object of their admira- 
tion, with a lively consciousness that the animal has 
teeth and heels. At this age Grant demonstrated his 
enterprise by operating with a three-year-old colt. I 
do not profess to be a great man, as I have before had 
occasion to remark, or to possess any of the elements 
of greatness ; but I do like a horse, while I am free 
to say I should as soon think of teaching an African 
lion to dance a hornpipe as to meddle with a three- 
year-old colt. However good-natured the creature 
may be, he has an innate independence of character, 
which makes him restive, and even vicious, under re- 
straint. I never break colts. 

Georgetown, where we lived in those early days, 
was about seven miles from the Ohio. One day 
Grant's father went to Ripley, a small town on the 
river, and remained there all day. The juvenile cen- 
taur had an idea on that occasion, which for a seven- 
year-old, may be regarded as an emphatically bril- 
liant one. On the place was a three-year-old colt, 
which had been used under the saddle, but never at- 
tached to a vehicle of any kind. It required some 
confidence on the part of the youth to think of har- 
nessing this unbroken animal ; yet he not only con- 
ceived the idea, but actually carried it out. He put 
the collar on the three-year-old for the first time, 
attached him to a sled, and hauled wood with him all 
day. At eight years of age he was the regular team- 
ster on his father's place. At ten he used to drive a 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 39 

span of horses to Cincinnati, forty miles distant, and 
return with a freight of passengers, but with no adult 
to direct or control him. 

The pony trick at the circuses which travel over 
the country is not a new thing ; and when a call was 
made for a boy to ride the fractious little beast, trained 
to throw the daring youngster who had the hardihood 
to mount him, for the amusement of the gaping crowd, 
Ulysses used to be a regular volunteer. I never 
offered my services, because I had a proper respect 
for the unity of my corporeal frame. Grant, bent on 
overcoming some new obstacle, was always on hand, 
and always as sure to succeed as he was to undertake 
any difficult feat. 

On one occasion a peculiarly vicious little rascal of 
a pony was attached to one of these shows which ex- 
hibited in our town. Grant, as usual, was the only 
youngster who had the pluck to venture upon the 
difficult feat of riding him. He mounted the little 
villain, and away he darted with the speed of the 
lightning, resorting to all manner of mean tricks to 
dismount his bold rider. Round the ring he whirled, 
flying rather than running, and increasing his efforts 
to unhorse the determined youth, who sat as steadily 
as though he had been the veritable, instead of the 
figurative, Centaur. Grant carried too many guns for 
that pony. 

A large monkey, included in the programme of the 
performance, was next let loose, to assist in dismount- 
ing the rider. The little demon sprang up behind the 
volunteer equestrian, and away dashed the pony at 
redoubled speed. The intelligent but excited au- 



40 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, 0R 

dience shouted with laughter, but the youth was 
unmoved either by the pony, the monkey, or the 
storming applause of the crowd. He could neither be 
bullied nor coaxed from his position. Then the gen- 
tlemanly master of the ring caused the monkey to 
mount the shoulders of the intrepid youngster, and 
hold on at his hair. Away went the pony once more, 
and a new effort was made to throw the unconquered 
young horseman. The crowd shouted and roared 
with renewed energy as the scene became more ludi- 
crous and more exciting ; but Grant's nerves were still 
steady, and his face still wore its resolute, unmoved 
expression. As usual with those who attempt to 
throw him, somebody besides Grant had to give in. 
He was too much for pony, monkey, and ring-mas- 
ter combined. 

I am well aware that I am enthusiastic ; I have 
made full confession of my enthusiasm, and I am not 
ashamed of it; but I cannot help regarding this ex- 
citing incident as a type of events in the subsequent 
career of that bold rider. When he mounted the 
pony to ride into Fort Donelson, he was not to be 
shaken from his seat ; he went in. That same pony 
— after all sorts of vicious attempts to pitch him into 
the Mississippi, or heave him over into the swamps — 
carried him safely into Vicksburg, after almost as 
many turns around the ring and the ring-master — 
one Pemberton on this occasion — as in the circus at 
Georgetown. 

On a still larger scale, with one Jefferson Davis as 
ring-master, he was induced to mount the emblematic 
pony of the army of the Potomac, an exceedingly 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 41 

well-trained steed, which, however, had succeeded 
in throwing all his previous riders. Little Mac went 
round the ring very handsomely, and so far as the 
pony was concerned, proved himself to be master of 
the situation ; but the monkey, which, in this case, 
appeared to be his personal reputation, too dear to be 
risked upon any issue short of absolute certainty, was 
too much for him, and he was unhorsed. His im- 
mediate successors held on well for a brief period ; 
but the monkey of jealousy, insubordination, or vanity, 
very soon gave them a wretched tumble, even before 
the crowd had ceased to applaud. 

Grant had ridden too many horses to be over- 
whelmed by this pony. The ring-master kept his eye 
on the daring rider, expecting soon to see him pitched 
off by the pony, with the assistance of the monkey. 
He started from the Wilderness one day, and every 
device was used to unseat him ; but he did not move 
a muscle when the ring-master cracked his whip, or 
even when the monkey perched upon his shoulders. 
He fought it out on that line, and brought up at 
Appomattox Court House. The ring-master gave up, 
and closed the performance. 

Doubtless Grant would have made a capital circus- 
rider, for he appears to have had a taste for daring 
feats with horses. At five years of age he began to 
stand up on the bare backs of the horses as he rode 
them to water to the White Oak River. When he 
was nine, he would stand on one foot, with the horse 
at the top of his speed, only holding on by the rein. 
A neighbor's boy was unfortunately killed in his at- 
tempts to keep up with him, though he did not seek 



42 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

to imitate him in his circus proclivities by standing on 
the back of the animal. 

Grant was a perfect breaker of horses, for the in- 
dependent, self-willed creature soon learned that he 
had a master in the youth ; but he would do this kind 
of business only for his own amusement. He appears 
to have had an instinctive nobility of character, which 
would not assimilate with anything like the horse- 
jockey or the horse-trainer. Though he had a remark- 
able tact, in his boyhood, for teaching a horse to pace, 
he regarded it as degrading to follow the art as a 
calling. While he was always willing to work, and 
had a just regard for the dignity of labor, he was sen- 
sitive about engaging in anything of doubtful utility 
or questionable respectability. A trick was resorted 
to by his father to induce him to teach a neighbor's 
horse to pace : though, in a ride of thirteen miles and 
back, he accomplished the feat, and returned the ani- 
mal to the owner a perfect pacer, he discovered the 
subterfuge of which he had been made the victim, and 
he would never again train another. 

At the age of twelve the embryo hero was very 
small in stature, but he seems to have indulged in big- 
ideas even then. Mr. Grant had a contract to build 
the Brown County jail, and the little fellow promised 
to haul all the logs of which the structure was to be 
composed, if his father would buy a certain large-sized 
horse, to which the youth had taken a fancy. His 
father assented, but did not suppose the boy would be 
able to endure the fatigue for more than a w r eek, and 
hired a man to take his place when he was worn out. 
But he did not wear out ; he had a habit of never 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 43 

wearing out, for he imparted the firmness and solidity 
of his will to his slight frame. The hired man fol- 
lowed the team for a few days, and then declared that 
the boy was more competent than himself to handle 
the big horse. 

That hired man reminds me of a certain general 
who followed Grant around for a time, ready to take 
his place, or give it to another, thinking the " big 
horse " was too much for his subordinate to manage, 
and who finally took the field in person ; but he was 
obliged to acknowledge in the end, as the other hired 
man had, that Grant could handle the "big horse" 
better than he could. 

For some reason the men who were hewing the 
logs in the woods for the jail did not go to work as 
usual one day, and there was no one to load the timber 
for the enterprising youth. There was only the alter- 
native of returning to town without any logs, or of 
loading them himself. The latter expedient would 
have been sufficiently impossible to deter an ordinary 
boy from attempting the task. The sticks were very 
large and heavy, and even the gang of men used levers 
and handspikes in loading them. But here was Grant 
standing before Donelson or Vicksburg, with this 
team, — before the logs, I should say, — and he had 
either to do a miracle or return logless to his father. 
If there had been no particular difficulty in the under- 
taking, perhaps he would not have felt compelled to 
do it ; as it was, he felt obliged to do it, if only as an 
illustration of his character. 

A tree had been felled on the spot, the trunk resting 
on the branches, and the butt on the ground, forming 



44 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

a convenient inclined plane. The big horse was 
hitched to the end of the timbers, and three of them 
were successively " snaked " up on the trunk of the 
fallen tree, till their ends were high enough to permit 
the wagon to be backed under them. Taking a long 
chain, so as to enable the horse to work beyond the 
vehicle, he whipped the end of it around each stick in 
turn, and hauled it into the wagon, harnessed up 
again, and drove to the site of the jail. 

I maintain that this was a great achievement for a 
boy of twelve, very small at that ; and the people in the 
neighborhood talked about it as such, just as they did, 
years after, about the capture of Vicksburg. The 
youth had a great deal of engineering skill, and a 
quickness of perception which enabled him to profit 
by every favorable circumstance within his reach — a 
faculty which has contributed in no small degree to 
his success as a great commander. He was a boy of 
expedients. The accident of that felled tree, prompt 
as he was to profit by it, was by no means essential to 
his success. It was certainly wise to use the inclined 
plane, which he found ready for service ; but if it had 
not been there, Grant would have made one, or loaded 
the logs in some other way. He would no more have 
gone off without them than he would have returned 
from Vicksburg or Richmond without capturing the 
city. 

There is a sort of zuzcxpectedncss about Grant, 
which he began to develop as a boy. He does just 
what the beholder does not anticipate, surprises by 
sticking to anything, when, according to ordinary 
rules, one ought to give up, or confounds by a course 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 45 

of action hitherto unheard of. He holds on to the 
pony when he ought to be thrown ; he comes home 
with a load of logs when he ought to have come home 
empty ; he accomplishes many a feat in which he 
ought to have failed, according to the every-day rules 
of life. He was fond of playing marbles, which seems 
to be the only strictly boys' amusement in which he 
indulged. He bet half a. dozen marbles with a school- 
mate that he would jump twenty-five feet at a single 
leap, selecting his own ground for the feat. If I had 
been there, I should have taken that bet, for it seemed 
as impossible for a little fellow like him to do it, as it 
did to capture Vicksburg. 

Grant went to a perpendicular bluff, having the 
requisite height, and jumped down at one leap, — 
for if the terms of the wager had required it, it would 
hardly have been convenient to make two leaps of it. 
Though he went down to his middle in the mud be- 
low, he won the bet. Doubtless he came out of the 
slough rather the worse for the leap, so far as personal 
appearance was concerned, but his plight only assures 
us that he looked before he leaped, as he always did, 
for hard pan, or a solid rock, might have been trying 
even to his nerves, in a jump of twenty-five feet. 

In my opinion Lee was as much astonished to see 
Grant on the south side of Richmond as the boy with 
whom he made the bet was to see him jump per- 
pendicularly instead of horizontally. 



46 OUR STANDARD-BEAKER, OR 



CHAPTER IV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the ilhistri- 
ous Soldier to West Point, and dilates admiringly 
tifion the many excellejtt Traits of Character which 
the Hero exhibited there. 

TANNING, even with oak bark, and the strong 
stimulus of the paternal example, had no charms 
to young Grant. Though it was a very honorable and 
useful occupation, he was remorselessly opposed to it ; 
not because he was a dandy, and it soiled his hands, 
nor because he was fastidious, and the odor was un- 
pleasant, but because he had no taste for the trade. 
It presented nothing but the dull routine of a me- 
chanical employment, with no difficulties to be over- 
come, and with no variety to enliven it. Whenever 
his father suggested that they should grind bark, he 
would start for the village without a word of reply, 
and hire a boy to take his place in the tannery, while 
he earned the money to pay him in some more con- 
genial way. 

Grant and his father appear to have agreed re- 
markably, notwithstanding their dissimilarity of tastes 
on the subject of tanning. The giant will was under 
judicious control, and was not exerted in opposition 
to the paternal inclination. He seems to have been 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 47 

obedient to his parents, even while his own wishes 
and tastes were in violent antipathy to theirs. On 
one occasion, when there was a scarcity of hands in 
the tannery, his father told him he must have his help 
in the beam-room. He obeyed, and went to work, 
but not without renewedly expressing his dislike of 
the business. He told his father that he would work 
at it, if he wished him to do so, until he was of age, 
but not a day after that time. 

This important period was the turning-point in the 
career of the young man, and the country is indebted 
to Mr. Grant for his judicious handling of the difficulty 
before him. He did not blindly and wilfully oppose 
the boy's inclination, even after he had voluntarily 
signified his intention to be guided by his father's 
wishes, at tire expense of his own individual tastes. 
Perhaps, in my unbounded admiration for the man, 
I am hasty in catching at analogies ; but I cannot help 
seeing the germ of another soldierly attribute in the dis- 
position which young Grant displayed on this occasion 
— the quality of obedience, without which the sol- 
dier is nothing. Though possessed of a mighty will, 
Grant has never been known to disobey the lawful 
commands of his superior, however disagreeable they 
were to him. 

Mr. Grant fully realized that it was time for his son 
to have some definite views in regard to the future ; 
and instead of compelling the boy to bend his back 
over the beam in the tannery, against his settled incli- 
nation, he simply replied to his complaint that he did 
not wish him to follow the business if he did not like 
it, and could not choose it as his permanent occupa- 



48 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

tion. The worthy patriarch was prudent in his treat- 
ment of the case, I repeat % and though I am not old 
enough to entitle my words to be regarded as the 
oracles of a sage, I commend his example to the at- 
tention of all ambitious parents who expect their sons 
to become great generals or presidents. 

The father asked the discontented youth what em- 
ployment he thought he would like. Ulysses evident- 
ly had not considered this grave matter in all its 
bearings, for he was not prepared to mention the 
particular calling which would suit him best, though 
he indicated three things, each as dissimilar to the 
others as it could be. 

He would like to be a farmer ; a " down-the-river 
trader," or " to get an education." It was not con- 
venient to establish him as a tiller of the soil ; and his 
father apparently regarded being a " down-the-river 
trader " as a disreputable occupation — probably as 
something akin to a Yankee pedler who sells wooden 
nutmegs ; and the money it would cost to give him a 
liberal education could not readily be spared from the 
tannery, which, in former days, kept the larger por- 
tion of its capital soaking in the vats for months. 
But the question was a serious one, and though it 
could not be realized at that time, the welfare of a 
great nation, as well as the destiny of an unformed 
youth, rested upon the issue. 

Who shall say that an inspiration higher than his 
own thought did not suggest to the anxious father the 
idea of sending his son to West Point ? It was a hap- 
py solution of the problem ; and what was better still, 
it suited the boy " first rate." The idea was prompt- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 49 

ly followed up. Mr. Grant wrote to the Hon. Thomas 
L. Hamer, the representative in Congress of the dis- 
trict in which he resided. The letter reached the 
member only on the day before his term of office 
expired, when his right to nominate a cadet to the 
Military Academy would cease. Fortunately the mail 
was faithful to its sacred duty on this occasion, and 
bore the missive to its destination in season to save 
Grant from becoming a farmer or a " down-the-river 
trader," and in season to have him appointed, not 
alone as a cadet, but as the savior of the nation ; for 
that nomination was the germ of the event which 
gave us the man that crushed the Rebellion. 

As I think of the condition of my country when the 
rising sun of Grant's genius pointed him out to the 
people as the only fit leader for the armies of the 
Union, I tremble to think of the results which must 
have followed a single day's delay of that momentous 
letter ! The providential man was providentially 
guided to his brilliant destiny. 

The bugbear of an examination for admission to 
West Point, though it then included only reading, 
writing, spelling, and arithmetic to decimal fractions, 
had more terrors to the young aspirant for military 
honors than the capers of a three-year-old colt. He 
was not prepared by any special training for such an 
ordeal ; and a young man, who had previously been 
appointed by Mr. Hamer, had twice failed to pass, 
his ill success keeping the place open for Grant. 
The opportunities of the newly-appointed cadet had 
been very limited, and it would hardly have been to 
his discredit if he had failed to come up to the require- 
4 



50 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

ments of the institution. But he did not fail ; with 
all his concentrated energy of purpose guiding and 
strengthening him, he could not fail ; and on the ist of 
July, 1839, at tne a & e °f seventeen, Grant was duly 
admitted to the Military Academy to prepare himself 
for the glorious future which God and his country had 
in store for him. And then 

"The great Ulysses reached his native shore," 

and entered upon the career of which we have not yet 
seen the full fruition. 

"What's in a name? A rose by any other name 
would smell as sweet ; " and Grant by any other name 
would have fought and conquered just as well ; but it 
was only by a singular accident that the newspapers 
have had the opportunity to make such a varied play 
upon the initials of his name, which in themselves 
were sufficiently suggestive to excite the attention of 
the specials as far back as the victory at Fort Donel- 
son. U. S. Grant demanding and insisting upon un- 
conditional surrender after a savage ficrht of three 
days was certainly a coincidence worthy of remark. 
Perhaps, after the momentous and prolonged discus- 
sion in regard to the baby's name soon after Grant 
was born, it was a great pity, when one had been 
selected, that it did not "stick" to the end; but it 
was doomed to be reconstructed, apparently that the 
initials might have a suggestive and patriotic signifi- 
cance. 

His father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother, 
discussed the important matter, and he was called 
Hiram Ulysses. Hiram was his grandfather's propo- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 5 1 

sition, simply because it was a pretty name, in his 
opinion. His mother's step-mother appears to have 
dabbled in classic lore, and to have read the Odyssey. 
She had a warm admiration for the hero of that re- 
markable tale, and insisted that the infant should have 
the name of Ulysses. As in the eternal fitness of 
things, this was an appropriate name, posterity will 
commend the taste, if not the prescience, of the ven- 
erable lady. 

In making the nomination, Mr. Hamer sent in the 
name of " Ulysses S. Grant," confounding his name 
with that of the applicant's brother and mother. 
While at West Point the interloping S. stood for Sid- 
ne)\ Grant made two attempts to have the matter 
set right, but the Fates were against him. It seemed 
to be foreordained that the United States and himself 
should be so far synonymous as to be designated in 
the same manner ; and he accepted his " manifest des- 
tiny," only causing the S. to stand for Simpson, in 
honor of his mother, instead of for Sidney. 

Mr. Hamer, who had conferred so distinguished a 
favor upon Grant and the nation in nominating him 
to a cadetship, did not live to realize the magnitude 
of the service he had rendered to his country and the 
applicant. In the Mexican war he went into the 
army himself, as did not a few of the politicians of 
the country. He distinguished himself at Monterey, 
but finally succumbed to the treacherous climate of the 
low lands. Grant was his nurse and his friend in his 
final sickness, and rendered to him the last kind offices 
df the living to the dead. The illustrious soldier was 
always faithful hi his friendships, never forgetting a 
favor or forsaking a friend. 



52 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

As there is " one glory of the sun, and another of 
the stars," it was not appointed unto Grant to be 
everything that is grand in humanity. Indeed, the 
very grandeur of the man consists in the harmonious de- 
velopment of all his faculties, rather than in the striking 
preeminence of a few, towering in lofty sublimity at 
the expense of all the others. He is not lacking in 
any essential quality of a great man, and his greatness 
is a combination of all the noble traits of character, 
instead of the morbid development of a few. He 
was not a great scholar. It was not his ambition or 
his destiny to be a Newton, a Humboldt, a Milton, 
or an Irving. The elements of a brilliant scholar 
would have shut him out from the distinction he has 
achieved. 

Grant's previous intellectual training had not pre- 
pared him to rival in scholarship those in his class 
who had been over the course before. The district 
school in a country town had been the limit of his 
advantages. The class which commenced the course 
with him was composed of eighty-seven members, only 
thirty-nine of whom were graduated. The routine and 
discipline of the institution are exacting and severe ; 
and it is very much to any young man's credit that 
he goes through at all. The statistics show that the 
cadets fall out by the wayside, as the lines draw taut 
upon them. A majority of Grant's class went by the 
board, and No. 39 — the lowest in rank who was gradu- 
ated — seems to have been a better fellow than forty- 
eight others who " caved in," some of them, doubtless, 
from weakness of body, but most of them for the want 
of pluck. But Grant was not the unhappy No. 39, who 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 53 

by contrast appears in an unpleasant position at the 
foot of the class, though, as I have shown, he was 
really a plucky fellow. Grant was graduated the 
twenty-first in his class, which is certainly a very 
creditable position. 

I confess my surprise, when I consider the fact that 
Grant's attainments, when he entered the Military 
Academy, were hardly up to those of the ordinary 
second class in our grammar schools, while some of 
his classmates were graduates of colleges, and most 
of them had been over a part of the regular course 
before, — I confess my surprise that he was not No. 
39, instead of No. 21. In spite of the giant will, and 
his developed pluck, it is a miracle that he was not of 
the number of those who fell out of the class during 
the four years' course. Certainly it is vastly more to 
his credit to have been able to graduate at all, than for 
many of the happy score who stood above to win their 
high rank. To have outdone eighteen of his compan- 
ions in that unequal race was worthy the energy and 
perseverance of the man. 

He went through the entire course of his class, for 
no option was then allowed to the cadets in the choice 
of studies. He exhibited himself to the best advan- 
tage in the mathematics, and in the departments of 
tactics and engineering obtained his highest marks in 
these branches, thus early developing his military 
mind. 

At West Point I had a warm admiration for Grant, 
though none of us were wise enough to predict his 
brilliant future. I am astonished that we did not, 
for the Grant of to-day was the Grant of West Point. 



54 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

He was the same modest, anti-sensational, unenthusi- 
astic being that he is now. He was the boldest and 
apparently most reckless rider in the ring ; but he 
always came out right then as now. He was not a 
dandy in any sense of the word ; and though he ap- 
peared to have no regard for the elegance of his attire, 
he was always scrupulously neat, and paid a proper 
respect to the amenities of society in his personal ap- 
pearance. He effectually dodged that period in the 
life of a young man when dress is the most important 
subject of consideration. 

I could not help admiring the embryo general, for 
though he did not court popularity, and seemed to be 
entirely indifferent to it, he was one of the most popu- 
lar of the cadets. The qualities of his mind and heart 
were of the highest order, and no student was able to 
point to a low or mean trait in his character. Bold, 
daring, and energetic, without the slightest display, 
without even uttering a boast, or exhibiting a particle 
of egotism, what wonder that he was the idol of his 
fellow-students ! 

" Methinks Ulysses strikes my wondering eyes ! " 

He never betrayed a trust reposed in him by friend 
or foe, was careful of the rights of others, and his 
word was as good as his bond. He was utterly for- 
getful of himself, never seeming to be conscious that 
he was of any particular consequence to others. In a 
word, he was then, as he is now, an honest, honorable 
man, true to himself, true to others. The sum of 
human greatness in personal character can include 
nothing more. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 55 

I say that he was careful of the rights of others. 
While I shall have occasion to demonstrate this trait 
in his character, — which is really one of the most 
noble and beautiful that can adorn the human mind, 
— on a larger scale in the course of this true narra- 
tive, let me say that it was the foundation of his pop- 
ularity at West Point. He was never concerned in 
the disgraceful practice of " hazing," which can amuse 
only a mean, low, and tyrannical character. When 
he went to West Point he carried a letter of introduc- 
tion to a cadet, who explained to him some of the 
tricks of the institution played off upon new-comers. 
On the first night a young gentleman entered his room 
and informed him that it was customary to assign a 
lesson of twenty pages, to be committed to memory 
while the student was nervous under the excitement 
of his admission, to test his firmness and energy. 
Grant assured the assumed officer that it was all 
right, turned over and went to sleep, while his room- 
mate labored all night over the bogus task. 

Grant's initials suggested for him the name of 
" Uncle Sam " at West Point ; but his sober, steady 
demeanor, which gave him a sort of my-uncle bear- 
ing and dignity, was quite as much implicated in the 
nickname as the accidental letters that preceded his 
patronymic. He was a good fellow, by the popular 
vote of his companions ; and none but such were en- 
titled to the distinction of a nickname. 

Having completed his four years' course, he was 
graduated in 1S43, at the age of twenty-one. He was 
appointed to the Fourth Regiment of Infantry, with 
the brevet rank of second lieutenant. 



£j6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER V. 

WJierein Captain Galligaskeii accompanies the illus- 
trious Soldier to Mexico, and glowingly dilates 
upon the gallant Achievements of ozir Arms from 
Palo Alto to Monterey, 



M 



Y distinguished ancestor, Sir Bernard Galligas- 
ken, was a fighting man, and was knighted 
for meritorious services in the loyal cause in Ireland. 
My respected progenitors in the New World were 
engaged in the French and Indian wars, and fought 
their way through the Revolution with credit to them- 
selves. I inherited the military taste ; but I do not 
mention this fact, or introduce the warlike record of 
my worthy ancestors, to add one jot or tittle of glory 
to their fame or my own, but simply to convince the 
reader that I have the soul to appreciate the military 
prowess of the illustrious soldier in the cheering light 
of whose brilliant deeds I am content to be ignored, 
eclipsed, obscured. 

Grant's rank at the Military Academy consigned 
him to the infantry ; for the best scholars of the gradu- 
ating class are assigned to the more desirable arms of 
the service — the engineers, cavalry, artillery. But to 
the soldier of such transcendent abilities as those of 
the illustrious hero, it mattered but little to what 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 57 

branch he was sent. His rising star was eventually 
to confound all the puerile distinctions of particular 
arms, and to grasp them all in one comprehensive 
idea. He was sent to the infantry, as if to place in 
his path more obstacles to be overcome. 

When those above him had been assigned to places 
in the army, all the vacancies were filled, and Grant 
was added as a supernumerary officer to the Fourth 
Infantry, with only brevet rank, there to wait till an 
opening was made, in those " piping times of peace," 
by resignation or death. His regiment was stationed 
in Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis. It was dull 
music here for ambitious young men, full of life, and 
thirsting for distinction in their chosen profession ; 
but Grant had the happiness to soften the rigor of his 
captivity by a pleasant episode. Frederick T. Dent, 
his classmate at the Military Academy, who was also 
assigned to the Fourth Infantry, resided in the vicinity 
of the barracks. The young officers were friends, 
and Grant was invited to the house of Dent's family, 
where he won the esteem and respect which have ever 
been accorded to him. 

On the mind and heart of Miss Julia T. Dent, the 
sister of his professional friend, he impressed himself 
even more strongly than upon those of others. They 
were engaged ; but it was not until five years later 
that the happy parties were married. 

After a residence of a year in the vicinity of St. 
Louis, Grant was ordered with his regiment to Lou- 
isiana. In 1845, as the Mexican imbroglio began 
to assume shape and form, the Fourth was ordered 
to Corpus Christi to observe the movements of the 



53 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Mexican army concentrating on the frontier. Here 
he was commissioned as a full second lieutenant in the 
Seventh Regiment ; but he was so strongly attached 
to the officers of the Fourth that he asked permission 
of the War Department to be retained in it ; and his 
request was granted. 

I am willing to confess, that, owing to my political 
predilections, I had not much heart in the war that 
was then brewing ; but I was a soldier, whose only 
duty is obedience. Grant, on the contrary, had no 
such scruples. His political faith fully and heartily 
indorsed the war, and he went into it calmly, reso- 
lutely, unflinchingly, and from a sense of duty higher 
even than that of soldierly obedience. I honor a man 
who has principles, and who has the courage to stand 
by them, even though he has the misfortune to dis- 
agree with me. 

Corpus Christi is situated at the mouth of the Rio 
Nueces, between which and the Rio Grande was the 
disputed territory, nominally the bone of contention 
between the United States and Mexico. General 
Taylor, in command of about four thousand troops 
at Corpus Christi, was ordered to advance to the Rio 
Grande. He accordingly posted himself opposite 
Matamoras, having his base of supplies at Point Isa- 
bel, on the Gulf, and erected defensive works to cover 
his army. Ampudia and Arista, the Mexican com- 
manders, signified that the advance of General Tay- 
lor into the disputed territory was an act of war, and 
that hostilities would be commenced. 

Unfortunately for the Mexicans, they were com- 
menced, and a body of dragoons under Captain Thorn- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 59 

ton was surprised by an overwhelming force of the 
enemy, and all of them killed, wounded, or captured. 
Our blood was up then, and we had no disposition to 
discuss any fine political points. All my scruples 
vanished, for the Mexicans had taken the initiative 
in the conflict, and struck down American soldiers. 
Their army crossed the Rio Grande, and Taylor, sus- 
pecting that Ampudia intended to attack his base of 
supplies, hastened to the relief of Point Isabel. Hav- 
ing reenforced the garrison, and assured himself of 
its ability to hold the place, he prepared to return to 
Fort Brown. 

During his absence the Mexicans crossed the river 
again, and attacked the fort. General Taylor started 
early in the morning, admonished by the sound of the 
guns at Fort Brown that assistance was needed there. 
Lieutenant Grant was in the column, with his regi- 
ment. At noon we came in sight of the Mexicans 
drawn up in order of battle at Palo Alto. General 
Taylor immediately formed his line for the conflict, 
and for the first time in thirty-one years an American 
army was drawn up before a civilized foe. Lieuten- 
ant Grant was there — in the first battle of the last 
half century, as he was in the last one. 

Taylor formed his line half a mile from the enemy, 
and the battle was fought mainly with artillery. Night 
gathered over the combatants in the same relative jiosi- 
tion. While the Mexicans had been fearfully slaugh- 
tered by the weight and range of the American guns, 
the loss on our side was insignificant in comparison 
with theirs. The enemy retired m the darkness, and 
we encamped on the field of battle. 



60 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Compared with the mighty actions of the late Rebel- 
lion, or even with those which followed it in the Mexi- 
can war, Palo Alto was a trivial affair, and I dwell 
upon it only as the occasion in which the illustrious 
soldier first drew his sword in actual conflict, in which 
he was first under the fire of an enemy. This was 
his baptismal battle, and there is no difficulty in be- 
lieving: that he behaved like a true soldier. 

We slept upon the field, as we have slept upon 
many a field since, but only to awake to another and 
fiercer battle the next day. The enemy had taken 
up a strong position near Resaca de la Palma, three 
miles from Fort Brown. Whatever may be said of 
the Mexicans, judged by the measure of their success 
in the war of 1846, they were by no means a con- 
temptible foe. They were not deficient in military 
science, and they stood their ground bravely, as the 
vast numbers of them slain in the various battles fully 
attest. At Resaca they were well posted in a ravine, 
with their flanks protected by an impenetrable jungle 
of scrub oaks. The battle opened with artillery, but 
the enthusiasm of both sides would not permit it to 
be continued at long range, and infantry and cavalry 
made some handsome charges. The Mexicans fought 
with dogged courage ; but, in spite of this, and of 
the fact that they were three to our one, they were 
utterly defeated and routed. 

The Mexican artillery was handled by General La 
Vega, a brave and skilful fellow, and did us much 
mischief. Taylor ordered Captain May, of the dra- 
goons, to charge upon this battery, which was so gal- 
lantly done that the feat has passed into history. He 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 6l 

was supported by the infantry, and the entire Mexi- 
can line was shattered by the onslaught. The demor- 
alized foe fled in terror, leaving their guns and am- 
munition on the field, a prey to our conquering arms. 
La Vega, who had no talent for running away, was 
taken prisoner. When the night of the second battle- 
day closed upon the scene, not a single Mexican soldier 
was to be found on the east side of the Rio Grande. 

General Taylor fought his battles thoroughly, and 
in this school of conflict Lieutenant Grant took his 
first lessons in actual warfare. His quaint criticism 
that the army of the Potomac " did not fight its bat- 
tles through " conveys a vivid impression of his views 
on this important subject. After blood and treasure 
have been freely expended to procure a military success, 
nothing can excuse the commander from following out 
the results of victory to the utmost extent within his 
means. This was the practice of " Old Rough and 
Ready " in the Mexican war. He " fought his battles 
through," as Resaca, Monterey, and Buena Vista fully 
testify, thus making a wise and economical use of the 
resources intrusted to his keeping. Grant is a greater 
general than Taylor ever was, and it would not be 
respectful to say that he followed the example of the 
worthy veteran ; but the experience of this period 
doubtless assisted in the preparation of the man for 
the gigantic work he was to accomplish eighteen 
years after. 

Three months later in the year the army of General 
Taylor crossed the Rio Grande, and marched upon 
Monterey. On the 20th of September he appeared 
before the city with an army of six thousand men, to 



62 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

attack a position strong in its natural and artificial 
defences, and garrisoned by ten thousand troops. 
The conditions of successful warfare, as usually rec- 
ognized by prudent commanders, were nearly reversed 
against the American army. Instead of having two 
or three to one of the garrison in force, they were 
nearly outnumbered in this numerical ratio. But the 
attack was promptly commenced, not by the slow and 
tedious process of regular siege operations, but by a 
direct assault, without wasting a single day. The 
battle opened on the morning following the arrival of 
the troops, and continued with unabated spirit during 
the day. Several fortified heights were carried before 
night, and the soldiers rested only to renew the assault 
the next day. 

The Bishop's Palace, a strongly-fortified position in 
the rear of the town, and the last to yield, was gal- 
la- tly carried by the force under the brave General 
Worth. On the third day of the fight the lower city 
was stormed with the most tremendous fury, the troops 
burrowing through the stone walls of the houses in 
their progress, and the defenders of the place were 
all driven within the citadel of the town before night 
again settled down upon the unequal fight. Penned in 
by their furious assailants, the Mexicans had no hope 
in continuing the resistance after the misfortunes 
which overtook them. Ampudia, the general in 
command of the city, submitted a proposition for 
terms which resulted in the surrender and evacuation 
of the town. 

Thus, in three days, Monterey, a city so strong in 
position, and so well defended that its commander 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 63 

might have confidently defied a besieging army of 
double the force of that which sat down before its 
walls, was carried by repeated assaults. This was 
another of the training fields of Lieutenant Grant. 
The walls of the houses within the city were strongly 
built, affording ample defensive positions from which 
the Mexican soldiers could safely annoy the Ameri- 
cans. From the windows they fired down upon their 
assailants, disputing the possession of each dwelling 
with the most dogged tenacity. 

In the midst of this irregular strife, while the foe in 
the windows were remorselessly shooting down the 
daring soldiers in the streets below, the ammunition 
of the brigade to which Lieutenant Grant was attached 
was nearly exhausted. It was an unpleasant position 
to be in, without powder and ball to keep the enemy 
at bay ; and it was therefore necessary to send for a 
fresh supply, which could only be obtained by trav- 
ersing a distance of four miles. But who should be 
the messenger to ride or walk beneath those death- 
dealing muskets in the windows, which were shower- 
ing storms of bullets at every blue-coat which appeared 
in the streets below ? The service was so fraught with 
peril, if not with certain death, that the general in 
command was not willing to issue a peremptory order 
for any one to undertake the mission. He called for 
a volunteer. 

It is hardly necessary to say that, while the brigade 
contained a Grant, a volunteer for any desperate ser- 
vice would not be wanting. The lieutenant stepped 
forward, and was despatched on the important errand 
upon which nothing less than the safety of the command 



64 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

depended, without considering the ultimate success of 
the movement in progress. Grant was a bold rider, 
and full of expedients. He had been among the 
Indians of the western country, and was willing in 
this emergency to profit by one of their feats of horse- 
manship. Mounting a spirited horse, he attached 
one of his feet to the back of the saddle, grasping the 
animal's mane with the other, and permitting himself 
to hang down by the horse's Ranks, so that his body 
shielded the intrepid equestrian from the bullets of the 
foe, who occupied the windows of only one side of the 
street. Hanging to his steed in this perilous attitude, 
he dashed off on his errand, at the highest speed of 
his charger, passing in safety through the destructive 
fire. He succeeded in bringing in a load of ammu- 
nition, guarded by a sufficient escort to insure its 
safety. 

The capture of Monterey was a splendid feat of 
our arms, however it may have been cast into the 
shadow by the subsequent achievements of our army 
in Mexico. History presents a record of but few par- 
allel victories, obtained in such a brief period, against 
all the disadvantages of the enemy's strong position, 
and with such a great disparity of numbers. The result 
was noj: because the Mexicans did not fight bravely 
and persistently, for they held their ground while the 
dead and wounded were piled high around them. 
The skilful officers and the trained soldiers of warlike 
France, exulting in her military prowess, won no such 
fields as Monterey and Buena Vista. While seven 
thousand of the Mexican soldiers in the city were 
regulars, Taylor's army was composed in part of 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 65 

raw volunteers, who had never snuffed the smoke of 
battle. 

The Americans were brave, but they could hardly 
be more so than the Mexicans, who had the additional 
stimulus of standing upon their own soil, fighting for 
their native land. We cannot find the secret of suc- 
cess in the superior bravery of our troops, and I can 
only attribute it to the high character, the daring 
courage, and the matchless skill of our officers. A 
few such tried and trusty spirits as Grant would leaven 
any army, and render it capable of performing seeming 
miracles. 

President Pierce, himself a general in the war with 
Mexico, as a representative in Congress, years before, 
spoke and voted against the appropriations for the 
Military Academy at West Point, being heartily op- 
posed to the institution. As a soldier in this brief and 
decisive contest, he had an opportunity to behold the 
representatives of the Academy in the storm of battle, 
and in the active operations of the siege and the 
march. He saw that West Point fought out that 
bloody war, and won that series of brilliant victories ; 
and it is creditable to him to have acknowledged his 
error in this matter, however unrepentant he may be 
over other and more glaring blunders. 

Soon after the battle of Monterey, Lieutenant 
Grant's regiment was sent to Vera Cruz to swell the 
grand army which was to march directly to the Halls 
of the Montezumas. 

5 



66 OUR STANDARD-BEAKER, OR 



CHAPTER VI. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken marches with the il- 
lustrious Soldier to the Halls of the Montezumas, 
and glozvingfy describes the brilliant Campaign 
in Mexico. 

GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT was a great 
soldier, and his Mexican campaign gave him a 
European reputation, chary as the critics of the old 
world are in the bestowment of praise upon American 
celebrities. He was never popular as an individual, 
for his qualities of mind and heart were not of the 
winning sort. His military skill must stand unchal- 
lenged, and his operations in Mexico will always at- 
test his ability. A greater than Scott arose to obscure 
and eclipse his fame as a commander ; but if the mid- 
day sun darkens the lustrous star, yet shall the star 
shine on bright as ever, its light paled only by the 
mighty contrast. 

Scott was a well-trained, a prudent, and a skilful 
soldier. Like Taylor, he fought his battles thoroughly ; 
and, after throwing out two or three brilliant geniuses 
in the art of war, he compares favorably with any of 
the great captains of ancient or modern times. He 
was the peer of Wellington, Marlborough, and the 
galaxy of able generals whom Napoleon gathered 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 67 

around him ; and his fame as a soldier will be cher- 
ished by the American people to their remotest pos- 
terity. 

General Scott's bloody but brilliant and successful 
campaign was to be the next training school of Lieu- 
tenant Grant ; and to have been a witness of the skil- 
ful strategy and the terrible fighting included in that 
memorable march from Vera Cruz to Mexico was to 
obtain an experience of war and an insight into its mys- 
teries which could not fail to be of incalculable value 
to the future chief of the armies of the Union. Grant 
was twenty-five years of age when he landed at Vera 
Cruz. Among the eager young officers whose souls 
were fired with the military spirit, he was but a unit. 
As a second lieutenant, however bravely and faith- 
fully he discharged his duties, there was no opportu- 
nity for him to attract attention beyond the limit of 
his own brigade. He was training for the future 
rather than living for the present. 

Scott landed at the head of twelve thousand men to 
make the conquest of Mexico. His first objective 
point was the famous Castle of San Juan de Ulua, the 
dragon which guarded Vera Cruz, and lay in the oath 
of the little army to the capital. On the 12th of 
March, 1S47, the investment of the city was com- 
pleted. Ten days later the batteries opened fire upon 
the castle and city ; and after four days of the most 
incessant hammering, an assault by the besieging 
army was planned ; but the governor of the city pro- 
posed to surrender. In just twenty days after the little 
army landed, the Stars and Stripes floated victoriously 
over the city, and over the invulnerable castle. 



6S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

The amazing rapidity with which the siege opera- 
tions were carried forward confounded the enemy. 
With the bitter experience of Monterey as a specimen 
of the spirit of the assailants, they were not disposed 
to go through the form of attempting to repel an as- 
sault. The dragon in the path of the victorious army 
was demolished, and the road to Mexico was open to 
the conquerors. Preparations were made immediate- 
ly for the grand march to the Halls of the Montezumas. 

On the ist of April Lieutenant Grant was appointed 
quartermaster of the Fourth Regiment — a position 
requiring peculiar abilities in the incumbent. He 
was selected for this important office because he was 
a careful, substantial, and energetic person ; and he 
continued to fill it to the entire satisfaction of his 
superiors until the close of the war. 

Early in April the advance was sent forward on the 
road to Jalapa. Santa Anna, routed at Buena Vista, 
had gathered together another army of fifteen thousand 
men, and intrenched himself in a strong position on 
the heights of Cerro Gordo, effectually commanding 
the only passage through the mountain gorges to the 
capital. Six days after the appearance of the advance 
before this formidable position, Scott, with the main 
army, arrived. The stronghold was immediately 
stormed, and alter a series of brilliant operations 
the position was carried. Three thousand prisoners 
and forty-three bronze guns were captured, besides 
seven standards and Santa Anna's private baggage. 

Signor Jimen, in the official journal of Mexico, de- 
fended the generalship of Santa Anna, and innocently 
attributed the terrible defeat to w ' inevitable misfortune, 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 69 

the result of the tactics of the invaders." The Mexi- 
cans were flanked by the passage of a portion of the 
American forces through a ravine which had never 
before been crossed, and which was deemed impass- 
able. The " tactics " were doubtless the sore trial of 
the Mexicans, and when I think of the material of 
which our officers were composed, I am hardly sup- 
prised at the magnitude of their achievements. Scott 
believed in councils of war, and had the benefit of the 
united thought of his brilliant officers. 

By this time, Grant, having been engaged in his 
fifth battle, was almost a veteran ; and in this daring 
warfare was the training process carried on in his 
mind ; in this arena of brilliant strategy was his mili- 
tary education perfected, and his experience enriched 
by an observation vouchsafed to only a few. 

The army, having beaten down the obstacle at Cerro 
Gordo, continued on its march towards the capital, 
occupying Jalapa and Castle Perote on its way. At 
Puebla the little force was so reduced by sickness, 
death, and the expiration of the term of volunteer 
enlistments, that the veteran general no longer deemed 
it prudent to advance. His numbers had dwindled 
down to five thousand ; and he rested here, in the 
heart of Mexico, with his handful of men, for three 
months, until reinforcements swelled his army to 
eleven thousand — an insignificant force for the con- 
quest of the country. 

About the middle of August this little army reached 
the vicinity of the capital. The city of Mexico is 
situated on Lake Tezcuco, and is approached over im- 
passable marshes and lagoons by long causeways and 



70 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

bridges. The nature of the country was favorable to 
an effective defence of the place, especially as the 
Mexicans had at least four times as many troops in 
service as their invaders. Located outside of these 
causeways, and guarding the approaches of the city, 
were the strongholds of Chapultepec and Churubusco, 
and the heavy batteries of San Antonio and Contreras, 
all of them mounting about a hundred pieces of artil- 
lery. They were surrounded by morasses, by head- 
long steeps and rocks heaved into fantastic irregular- 
ities by volcanic action. The Mexicans confidently 
relied upon these natural additions to the strength of 
their works, and regarded their positions as impreg- 
nable. 

Turning aside from the national road, by which he 
had marched to Ayolata, and which here presented 
too many difficulties for the remaining fifteen miles of 
his journey, Scott made a detour around Lake Chalco, 
and approached the city from the south. On the 20th 
of August the battery on the height of Contreras was 
captured by an impetuous assault, which occupied but 
seventeen minutes. The garrison of San Antonio 
evacuated their position, being cut oft' from the line 
of defence by the foil of the supporting works. 

Four miles nearer to the city of Mexico, and com- 
manding the road, frowned upon the invaders the 
strong fortification of Chur.ubusco, where the main 
body of the enemy's army had been concentrated for 
an obstinate resistance ; but on the same day the 
stronghold was battered down, and the Mexicans were 
driven to their only remaining fortress of Chapultepec. 
All day long Scott's gallant army had been fighting 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. J I 

three times their own numbers, lodged in what had 
been deemed impenetrable works ; but their arms 
were victorious at every point. 

After a delay of more than two weeks in receiving 
and declining some absurd terms for an armistice, 
offensive operations we're resumed by General Scott. 
The plain on which the city of Mexico is situated is 
studded with volcanic heights, projecting up from the 
morasses and lava fields. On one of these eminences, 
two miles from the city, stood the strong castle of 
Chapultepec, its base one hundred and fifty feet above 
the average level of the ground. It had a front of 
nine hundred feet, which bristled with guns, manned 
by a picked force, commanded by one of the ablest 
Mexican officers. This huge work stood, like another 
dragon, to protect the entrance to the principal cause- 
way leading to the city. Behind it was a powder 
mill, called El Molino del Rey, which was fortified 
and occupied by troops, and constituted the principal 
outer defence of the castle. It was necessary that this 
position should be first captured, and the duty was 
assigned to General Worth, of whose command the 
Fourth Infantry formed a part. 

The assault was a desperate one, and Worth lost 
one fourth of his troops in the action, so obstinate 
was the defence by the Mexicans, who had reached 
their " last ditch," and fought with corresponding 
valor. The position was carried, and in the sharp 
battle Grant won his first recorded laurel. " Captain 
Brooks and Lieutenant Grant, with a few men of their 
respective regiments, by a handsome movement to the 
left, turned the right flank of the enemy, and the 



72 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

barrier was carried. Second Lieutenant Grant be- 
haved with distinguished gallantry on the 13th and 
14th." This is the language of the official report of 
Major Francis Lee, commanding the Fourth Infantry 
at the time. 

I have said that Grant had been appointed quarter- 
master of his regiment. As the officer in charge of the 
baggage trains of the force, well-established precedents 
permitted him to remain in charge of them during the 
fierce conflict, and thus to escape the personal peril of 
being under fire. It would not have been dishonorable, 
or an imputation upon his courage, for him to do so ; 
but to his honor and glory be it said, that he never took 
advantage of his non-belligerent position. He always 
joined his regiment when it was summoned to the 
strife, and "behaved with distinguished gallantry " on 
on all occasions. For his conduct on this eventful 
day he was promoted to the rank of full first lieu- 
tenant. 

The Castle of Chapultepec was bombarded, and then 
carried by storm, after the walls had been breached. 
In the complicated details of the final attack the 
Fourth Infantry acted a worthy part. Grant assisted 
in serving a howitzer, mounted on the top of a con- 
vent, by which the enemy was considerably annoyed. 
It was a novel position for an infantry officer ; but this 
was not the first, and by no means the last, time he 
was where he was least expected to be found — in front 
of the enemy. Colonel Garland, commanding the 
First Brigade on this occasion, officially says, " I must 
not omit to call attention to Lieutenant Grant, of 
the Fourth Infantry, who acquitted himself most 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 73 

nobly upon several occasions under my own obser- 
vation." 

The result of that gallant attack shows that all the 
officers behaved well ; so well that Grant and one 
other only are mentioned out of the whole First Bri- 
gade, and the quality of the deeds which called forth 
the generous compliment of his superior may be 
judged from this fact. All had been brave to reck- 
lessness, all had been earnest and persevering ; but it 
was the nature of Grant, even then, to surpass the 
bravest, the most earnest and persevering. In General 
Worth's report of the battle, he also speaks in com- 
mendation of the gallant lieutenant. For Grant's hon- 
orable mention he received the brevet rank of captain, 
to date from the day of the battle of Chapultepec. 

With this strong fortress fell the city of Mexico ; 
and during the night which followed its capture, the 
remains of the army of Santa Anna, with the civil 
officers of the government, fled to a place of safety. 
On the following morning, Scott and his gallant little 
army marched into the capital. The American flag 
floated proudly over th© walls of the national capital, 
and Mexido was conquered ; victory had constantly 
perched upon our banners, and we stood in the Halls 
of the Montezumas, where we were permitted to repose 
in peace after the battle summer through which we 
had just passed. 

Grant remained in the city of Mexico while the 
negotiations for peace were in progress. As usual, he 
had a very spirited horse, for he never rode any other 
when one could be obtained. A Mexican gentleman, 
with whom he was on terms of friendly intimacy, de- 



74 OUR STANDARD-DEARER, OR 

sired to borrow this animal for a ride. Grant feared 
that the worthy seiior could not handle the fiery 
steed ; but it was not prudent to decline the request, 
for the Spanish nature of the applicant would take 
offence, and misjudge his motives in the refusal. The 
Mexican mounted the horse, but, when he had ridden 
a short distance, was thrown oft' and instantly killed. 

Long ago I came to the conclusion that it is not 
safe for any man to attempt to ride Grant's horses, in 
a literal or a figurative sense. 

Grant's mission in Mexico was finished. In that 
rapid and brilliant compaign from Vera Cruz to the 
capital, he had practically learned the lesson of war, 
and prepared himself for the great work he was to 
accomplish at a later period of his life, when West 
Point was to be divided between the opposing armies, 
when the most brilliant genius and the most determined 
energy alone could win victories. The importance 
of this season of actual duty in the field, in all the 
details of siege, march, and garrison duty, can hardly 
be over-estimated. In the war of the Great Rebellion 
he came into the field a trained soldier, with the 
teachings of experience stored up for use in a broader 
sphere of action than he or any of his companions in 
arms had yet dreamed of. 

After the ratification of the treaty of peace between 
Mexico and the United States, our forces evacuated 
Mexico, and Captain Grant was sent to New York 
with his regiment, where its companies were detached 
and sent to the forts on the northern frontier. Grant 
and his company were first stationed at Detroit, and 
then transferred to Sackctts Harbor. In 1S4S he was 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 75 

married to Miss Dent, in conformity with the engage- 
ment made five years before, to which both had 
religiously adhered. 

The treaty of peace with Mexico had given us Cal- 
ifornia, and coincident with the acquisition of the 
territory, gold was discovered there in such quantities 
as to attract an immense immigration, and it was 
necessary for the government to send out troops for 
the protection of the swarming hosts, both from them- 
selves and from the Indians. The Fourth Infantry 
was sent to Oregon in 1S51. The battalion in which 
Grant served was stationed at Fort Dallas, where the 
illustrious soldier obtained some further experience of 
Indian warfare. 

He was separated from his family, and in this wild 
region shut out from any employment worthy his 
nature, and apparently from all hope of rising either 
as a citizen or a soldier. It would have been surprising 
if Grant had not been discontented. He was a man 
of deeds, emphatically a man of action ; but there was 
nothing to be done worthy his ambition. 

In 1853 he was promoted to a full captaincy ; but 
this advancement could not relieve him from the 
tedium of such a stupid life, and the following year 
he resigned his commission, to enter upon a new and 
untried career in civil life. 



^6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER VII. 

In which Captain Gall ig ash en goes with the illus- 
trious Soldier to the Far?n near St. Louis, and 
observes his Career through various Misfortunes, 
till he is included in the Firm of Grant & Sons. 

CAPTAIN GRANT had been in the army eleven 
years. He was engaged in the first and the last 
battle of the Mexican war ; indeed, he had taken part 
in every action of any importance, except Buena Vista. 
This was his practical training for the great work of 
his life, developing his faculties and storing his mind 
with an experience which was to bring forth its rich 
fruits on the historic battle-fields of the Great Rebel- 
lion. 

In the wilds of the Pacific slope, — 

" In the continuous woods 
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound 
Save his own dashings," — 

the impatient soldier unbuckled his sword, and laid it 
aside. The weapon was rusting in its scabbard, and 
the proud spirit which had worn it honorably through 
a fierce war, waged upon a foreign soil, chafed under 
the inaction to which it was condemned in that far-oft 
region. It was not the sphere for a great mind. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 77 

It is a notable fact, that when the bugle-blast of 
stern necessity rallied the soldiers of the Republic 
around her banners, to save her from destruction, 
some of the choicest spirits came out from the walks 
of civil life, whither they had fled from the dulness 
of an inactive life in the army. Such were Grant, 
Sherman, Burnside, Hooker, McClellan, and many 
others. 

At the age of thirty-two, after having been devoted 
exclusively to military pursuits for fifteen years, Grant 
left the army to engage in new and untried enterprises. 
This was an important step of his life, but I humbly 
believe it was as necessary to the perfect development 
of the man as any other which he had taken. It was 
an evidence of his characteristic energy, and of the 
confidence he had in himself, which was displayed in 
so remarkable a manner in the most trying days of 
the Rebellion. 

I am not disposed to magnify the deeds of the illus- 
trious soldier, — they need no such office at mine or 
any man's hands, — or to praise his conduct in the 
glowing light of subsequent events; but I maintain 
that the act of resigning his commission in the army 
required no small degree of moral courage. The 
government had educated him at its own expense, 
and provided for him during the term of his natural 
life. If his had been the dull, stupid, inert character, 
this lot would have satisfied him. He was placed out 
of the reach of want in the present and the future ; 
and the deaths and resignations in the army would 
have materially improved his condition if he quietly 
submitted to his fate. 



7S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

His total pay as a captain of infantry amounted to 
nearly a thousand dollars a year ; and it was as sure 
as the rising and setting of the sun. This was the 
certainty before him ; and only a man of energetic 
purposes, with great confidence in his own abilities, 
would have turned from it to strike out a new path in 
the tangled maze of worldly affairs. From his boy- 
hood he had been absorbed in the pursuits of his mili- 
tary career, and their practical application in the field 
and on the march, with a limited knowledge of busi- 
ness ; and I repeat that it required no little moral 
courage to abandon the certainty and grapple with 
the uncertainty. 

I am aware that a different explanation of Grant's 
resignation has been rumored through the country, 
and the vile slander that he had become addicted to 
intemperate habits has been circulated over the land. 
It has even been said that his resignation was prompted 
by a significant warning from the War Department. 
I am amazed that such an idle story should ever have 
obtained even a momentary credence. It is as impos- 
sible that Grant could ever have been a drunkard as 
that he could ever have been a coward. " He that 
ruleth his spirit is mightier than he that taketh a city." 
Under all circumstances, in the fierce storm of battle, 
as in the quiet of the social circle, he always main- 
tained the most perfect control of himself. If he ever 
used the intoxicating cup to excess, he must have 
known it himself; and to know that he had a danger- 
ous habit was to conquer it. 

Look at the inflexible will of the man, as displayed 
at Donelson and Vicksburg ! Look at him, meek and 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 79 

modest, in the midst of the storm of applause that 
everywhere greeted him after his mission had been 
accomplished ! Look at him, calm and immovable, 
when, in the intricacies of the Vicksburg campaign, 
he outsped the thought and the prudence of his mili- 
tary compeers, and the impatient people began to 
howl even at him ! Could such a man be the slave 
of his own appetite? The man himself is the best 
evidence of the falsity of the rumor. 

I say I am amazed that this silly story should ever 
have been harbored for a moment by any one, except 
an enemy of his country ; but I am still more amazed 
when I realize that this is the only blemish which 
lukewarm friends and over-critical enemies have been 
able to cast upon the character of the distinguished 
soldier. It is the jDrerogative G f greatness to be the 
mark of slander's poisoned arrows. Napoleon was 
accused of crimes enough to banish him forever from 
the pale of human sympathy ; Wellington and Marl- 
borough escaped not the blast of calumny; Jefferson 
was charged with the most loathsome immoralities ; 
and even Washington was systematically traduced by 
over-zealous partisans. It is a miracle, therefore, that 
Grant has only been held up to obloquy for the one 
oHence of intemperance, and that the most absurd 
and improbable one which could possibly have been 
devised. 

Grant retired from the army for the same reason 
that hundreds of others have done so, in time of 
peace — because it did not afford a sufficient scope for 
his talents and energy. lie returned to St. Louis, 
where the family of his wife resided. Mr. Den* gave 



So OUR STANDARD-BEARER. OR 

his daughter, Mrs. Grant, a form at Gravois, about 
nine miles from the city, and on this place Grant 
located himself with his family, consisting now of his 
wife and two children. He built a house of hewn 
logs, working on the structure with his own hands, 
thus drawing upon the experience he had acquired in 
his youth. His native energy made him a hard- 
working man. His domain included extensive timber 
lands, and he attempted to better his condition by the 
sale of wood in the city of St. Louis. He was not 
above his business, nor in any sense one of those 
dandy agriculturists called " gentleman farmers." 
He employed men to chop the wood, but he carted 
it to the city and sold it himself. He kept two teams, 
one of which he drove himself, while his little son 
had inherited enough of his father's horse nature to 
be competent to manage the other. 

Grant was as thoroughly democratic in his manners 
as he was in his politics. He wore an old felt hat, a 
seedy blouse coat, and prudently tucked his trousers' 
legs into the tops of his boots. He appeared to be 
— what he was — a simple, honest woodman. His 
habits were plain, and he lived on the most econom- 
ical scale; indeed, his means would not permit him 
to live in any other manner. Those who had deal- 
ings with him knew him as an honest, upright man, 
faithful in the discharge of all obligations. 

Grant always remembered and cherished his true 
friends. One day in St. Louis, whither he had come 
with his team, he heard that Professor Coppee, one 
of his classmates at West Point, was in the city. In 
his homely rig, with the whip in his hand, he waited 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Si 

upon his early friend at the hotel, where were also 
General Reynolds, General Bnell, and Major Chap- 
man. The " honest woodman " was asked to step to 
the bar and take a drink. " I will go in and look at 
you, for I never drink anything myself," replied he. 

If Grant ever drank anything, this would have been 
an occasion, when, meeting old friends and classmates, 
after a separation of years, he would have been little 
likely to decline the social glass. I was not present 
on this occasion, but Professor Coppee publishes the 
incident himself, and of course there can be no doubt 
of its truth. Other officers, who were frequently with 
him, declared that he drank nothing stronger than 
cold water ; and, for my own part, I consider him 
eligible to the office of Grand Worthy Patriarch 
of the National Division of the Sons of Temperance, 
or any other position in which entire abstinence from 
all that can intoxicate is the essential qualification. 

But Grant was not a successful man as a farmer. 
His previous training and experience did not fit him 
for this calling. It was not his sphere, and it was no 
discredit to him that he was not successful in it. He 
was not the man to lie supinely down and moan over 
his misfortunes. If one expedient failed, he tried an- 
other, in his own affairs as well as in those of the 
army. If a thing did not work right, it was his habit 
to " fick" it again. In the neighboring city, to which 
he moved, he resorted to several methods of eking 
out his failing subsistence. He tried auctioneering; 
but, though he had the ability to " knock down " a 
mighty rebellion, he v/as not equally fortunate in mere 
commercial pursuits. He had not the skill to exag- 
6 



82 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

gerate, nor the oily tongue to win the heart of a 
doubting customer. 

He was an applicant for the position of engineer 
under the city government, but his petition for ap- 
pointment was " respectfully declined." His efforts 
to establish a remunerative business as a real estate 
agent were equally unfortunate. At the same time 
he hung out his shingle as a " collector." At this 
period his fortunes were at dead low tide, and not 
always did he know on one day where his subsistence 
for the next was to come from. He seemed to be 
foraging in an enemy's country, which had already 
been drained of its supplies. He was too poor to 
hire an office, and an obliging young lawyer, not bur- 
dened with clients, gave him desk room for the con- 
ducting of his scanty business. 

But he had not much use even for desk room, and 
the number of his customers did not wear out the 
patience of his accommodating host. Grant was still 
out of his sphere ; he had none of those mental quali- 
fications which fit a man to be a successful " dunner." 
With all his pluck and persistence he could not worry 
a poor or a dishonest debtor up to the point of pay- 
ment, lie failed in this; the tide ran against him, 
and life became a bitter struggle. He obtained a 
place in the custom-house, which he held for two 
months, when the collector, who had given him the 
appointment, died, and he was obliged to leave. His 
hour of triumph had not yet come. 

While Fortune seems to have entirely deserted the 
illustrious soldier in the civil walks of life, she had 
been more constant with his lather, who had become 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 83 

prosperous enough to extend his business to Galena, 
Illinois, where he had established a branch leather 
store, conducted by two of his sons. As the worthy 
sire was now in easy circumstances, it seemed to be 
necessary to do something to redeem the failing for- 
tunes of his oldest son. I am willing to state, on my 
own individual responsibility, that before he was in- 
vited to take a position in the store, or a share in the 
business, at Galena, there was an anxious inquiry by 
the prosperous father and sons into the capacity of 
Grant to fill the position to which he was to be as- 
signed. It was even somewhat doubtful, at that time, 
whether the man who had the genius to control the 
movements of a million soldiers, had the business 
ability to entitle him to admission into the firm of 
" Grant & Sons." 

The brilliant campaign in Mexico, gallant conduct 
at Monterey and Chapultepec, and turning the ene- 
my's right flank at El Molino del Rey, hardly added 
much to the accomplishments of a suitor for the 
honors of the leather trade. It was asked whether 
fifteen years' service in the military had not disquali- 
fied him in some measure for mercantile pursuits; 
whether the idleness to which he had been con- 
demned after the peace — idleness only as a civilian 
views it — had not impaired his native energy, and 
robbed him of some of the force and skill which had 
characterized his early years ; whether he had not 
displayed so little ability at "getting ahead" on his 
own hook, as to render him at least a doubtful person 
to be associated with the prosperous firm. 

It is as creditable to the good judgment as it is to 



84 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the kindly hearts of " Grant & Sons" that these con- 
siderations had no weight with them, and in i860 he 
was admitted as a partner to the firm. The end of 
the night of misfortune and futile struggles had come, 
and the dawn of a prosperous day opened upon the 
retired soldier. Grant took kindly to his new occu- 
pation, and, in spite of his antecedents on the battle- 
fields of Mexico, and his connection with so " nobby" 
an institution as the regular army, he still continued 
to be a plain, modest man. He devoted himself to 
the leather business with the same energy that he 
devoted himself to the capture of Vicksburg. He 
was regarded in this sphere as a sound, solid, com- 
mon-sense man, with excellent judgment. 

He went to work in the leather trade as he did in 
the army, and in his farming operation, with industry 
and perseverance. He was not a great talker, but 
when he spoke he meant something. The solidity of 
his character was apparent in the firm lines of his 
face, and he was a man who produced an impression 
both by his words and his looks ; and for this reason 
he made a good salesman. He was but little known 
in Galena, taking no pains to extend the circle of his 
acquaintance. 

This was the position which Grant occupied at the 
breaking out of the Rebellion. I am not a fatalist, 
but I do believe that Providence adapts means to 
ends in the affairs of men. I am entirely satisfied 
that the illustrious soldier needed his experience in 
the civil pursuits of life to prepare him for the great 
mission whose successful accomplishment gave him a 
wreath of glory brighter than ever adorned the brow 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 85 

of any other mortal man. Even his misfortunes, and 
his struggles against the cold current of poverty, were 
a necessary discipline and preparation for the man. 
Without them he could not have been what he is, and 
what he will yet become ; for of all the atoms of ex- 
perience is agglomerated the character of the man. 

Thus prepared by the brilliant campaign of Mex- 
ico, thus prepared by the events of his civil life, and 
thus prepared by the discipline of adversity, stood 
Grant in the leather store at Galena, when the thun- 
der of Sumter's guns struck upon his listening ears. 



S6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligaskcn discourses upon the 
breaking ozit of the Rebellion, and describes the 
noble and modest Behavior of the illustrious Sol- 
dier. 

UNTIL Treason opened its treacherous batteries 
on Fort Sumter, Grant had been a Democrat. 
His sympathies, though he seldom expressed him- 
self on political topics, were with the conservative 
party. Abolition and abolitionists, as such, had no 
place in his regard, and the Republican party he 
viewed with all the disfavor of a sturdy Democrat. 
His father had been a Democrat before him, and so 
far as he had any political associations, they were of 
this faith. 

In those months of dire forebodings, of anxious 
waiting, and of fruitless attempts to patch up a com- 
promise, which intervened between the election of 
Lincoln in November and the breaking out of hostil- 
ities, Grant had been in favor of conceding to the 
South all its rights, even as they were interpreted by 
a Democrat who lived and breathed and had his 
being in compromise. It cannot be said or thought 
that the illustrious soldier embarked in an anti-slavery 
war. The terrible conflict was precipitated by the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. S7 

madness of the South in opening its guns upon a 
national fort. 

For months the country had been waiting with 
breathless interest for the issue of the political com- 
plications which grew out of the secession of South 
Carolina and the states which followed her reckless 
example. Patriots north and patriots south were not 
willing to believe that the horrors of civil war were 
to be enacted in the land they loved. Even the " fire- 
eaters " of the South, while they looked daggers, used 
none. There was no spirit of prophecy in the coun- 
try which foresaw the stupendous conflict that ensued. 
Men hoped and believed that some happy event would 
turn aside the impending storm. The South expected 
that its noisy bluster and its parade of arms would 
intimidate the North ; and the cooler North thought 
that the hot blood of the South would cool itself in 
the lapse of time. Both were mistaken. 

The fiery Southrons ostentatiously made their prepa- 
rations for a conflict which they did not believe would 
take place, and the North, if not unmoved, yet exer- 
cised a degree of forbearance which appeared like 
indifference, in the face of this parade of hostile 
demonstrations. The government was paralyzed by 
the unwonted situation ; but it did not raise a finger 
to disturb or check the hostile operations of the rebels. 
The constitution and the laws were set at nought ; 
forts, arsenals, and dock-yards were seized ; the na- 
tion's property was plundered, and its honored flag 
insulted and trailed in the dust ; but the sword of 
justice still rested in its scabbard. Southern fanatics 
howled, stormed, and blustered ; yet the government 



SS OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

only waited — waited till the fiery zeal of the South 
appeared to be in danger of wasting itself before the 
purposes of its leaders were accomplished. 

It was necessary that something should be done to 
" fire the Southern heart," and rekindle the enthusiasm 
of the people, which was waxing cold under the for- 
bearance of an insulted government. Fort Sumter 
was bombarded ; lines of batteries encircling the de- 
voted work poured in their rain of shot and shell, and 
battered down the walls of the fortress, defended by 
only a handful of men. Skilful officers, educated at 
the public expense to defend the government against 
which they were now raising their parricidal hands, 
conducted the cowardly enterprise, with the flower 
of Southern chivalry gathered in thousands under 
their command, to a successful issue. The triumph 
was theirs, the glory and the endless shame in one 
foul deed. 

The South sang the paean of victory, achieved with 
an odds of a hundred to one in its favor, and the South- 
ern heart was fired. By the same deed another heart 
was fired. The North rose as one man to resent the 
base outrage, the cowardly assault. The last moment 
when compromise was possible, passed away with the 
report of the first gun aimed at Sumter. That gun 
awoke the slumbering North, and in every peaceful 
hamlet the drum-beat of preparation sounded, begin- 
ning on the St. Croix and ending far west of the Mis- 
sissippi. The news that the first blow had been struck 
flashed through the land, silent between hope and fear, 
and kindled an enthusiasm which had no bound or 
limit. Traitors north and traitors south were marked 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Sg 

men from that thrilling hour. There was no voice 
but for the nation's honor and the nation's defence, in 
the onslaught of a treacherous foe. 

For years the military spirit in the people had been 
repressed and discouraged. The soldier was regarded 
as an obsolete necessity, and the profession of arms 
had become absolutely disreputable in many parts of 
the country. Except here and there one who had 
served in the Mexican war, and a superannuated vet- 
eran of 1812, there was not a soldier in the land who 
had any experience of actual warfare. Half a cen- 
tury had elapsed since the fact of war in their own 
midst had been realized by the people, and all their 
traditions were of peace and prosperity. 

But in spite of their peaceful antecedents, in spite 
of the seeming indifference with which they had re- 
garded the gathering storm, they flew to arms. With- 
out any concert of action, without any startling procla- 
mations to rouse their sleeping energies, they rallied 
beneath the banner of the country, and the spectacle 
of a united North was held up to the view of the 
astonished South. The proclamation of -the presi- 
dent calling for seventy-five thousand men — an un- 
heard-of army within our peaceful borders — imme- 
diately followed the tidings of the shock of actual 
conflict. The government had come out of its leth- 
argy with the people, and both were in hearty sym- 
pathy. 

To Galena came the tidings from Fort Sumter, and 
to Galena came the proclamation of President Lin- 
coln. We were thrilled by the treacherous deed of 
those who were henceforth to be our foes. We were 



QO OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

thrilled by the note of preparation which sounded at 
the same time. Our hearts beat the quickstep which 
was reverberating through the entire North, and from 
the depths of our souls we thanked the patriot presi- 
dent for his prompt and decided action. With an 
indignation which was characteristic of the man, Cap- 
tain Grant read the newspaper which contained the 
story of the nation's dishonor. The lines which de- 
lineate on his face the force of his will seemed to 
deepen as he realized the fact that the first blow had 
actually been struck. In that cowardly army which 
had rained shot and shell upon a little worn-out band 
of regular soldiers for thirty-three hours were some 
of his classmates and companions in arms on the 
bloody fields of Mexico. They had been friends, but 
now they were enemies. 

There was no halting or hesitation in the man. 
The blows which battered down Sumter reached his 
great heart. His country was in peril, and his patri- 
otic soul responded to the call for her defence. He 
made no noisy demonstrations, but calmly and reso- 
lutely fixed his purpose and declared his intentions. 
There was no foam or fury in his manner ; nothing 
was said and nothing was done to create a sensation, 
though the man who had won laurels in the hard- 
fought battles of Mexico might have been excused, on 
such an occasion, for a little display or a little pom- 
posity ; but that was not Grant. Actuated only by a 
sense of duty to his country, and not at all by a desire 
to serve himself or to win the honors of the profession 
he had first chosen, he was as gentle and modest as 
the humblest civilian. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



9 1 



The soldier, especially the trained and experienced 
soldier, was a mighty man in those days. The whole 
country was rising in arms, and his influence was 
potent. The nation wanted him, and his profession, 
maligned and treated with contempt before, suddenly 
elevated him above the sphere of politicians and 
statesmen. Grant was a soldier, and the fact that he 
was a graduate of West Point, and had seen service 
in the field, made him a man to whom others looked 
up with respect and admiration in the new dispensa- 
tion which necessity preached to the people. 

I dwell with pride and pleasure upon the deport- 
ment of Captain Grant at this exciting period. To 
me there was something sublime in his absolute self- 
negation. His antecedents, his military record, entitled 
him to a high position in the volunteer army which 
was then gathering. It would not have been immod- 
est for him to write to the governor of Illinois, asking 
a position as a major general in the mustering host. 
He did nothing of the kind ; he asked for no position. 
He did not thrust his rank in the regular army, which 
he had earned by hard fighting, into the faces of civil 
or military officials. He claimed nothing. 

" Uncle Sam has educated me for the army," said 
he to a friend. " Though I have served him through 
one war, I do not feel that I have yet repaid the debt. 
I am still ready to discharge my obligations. I shall 
therefore buckle on my sword, and see Uncle Sam 
through this war, too." 

The obligation could not be forgotten, for Grant 
never permitted the remembrance of a favor to be 
obliterated from his heart; but high above even 



Q2 OUR STANDARD-BEAKER, OR 

this sacred duty was that which he owed to his stricken 
country, then writhing in the gripe of the monster of 
Treason. The purpose which gave to the United 
States the greatest commander the world has ever 
seen was formed ; but he did not blow a trumpet be- 
fore him in the streets of Galena, and say to the people, 
" Lo, here I am, a soldier trained to arms and fit to 
be your chief. Behold me — a hero from Monterey 
and Chapultepec. Make me your leader, and send 
me to battle at the head of your men, and I will win 
great victories for you." 

Not thus spoke Grant : save in the privacy of his 
narrow social circle, he spoke not at all ; and even 
when his mighty prowess and his brilliant victories 
had made him famous, the people came to the shop 
windows of Grant & Sons to ascertain which of 
the firm was so effectually tanning rebel hides, so little 
was he known, and so little had he paraded himself 
before the citizens of the place. 

Though like him I had been to West Point ; though 
like him I had seen the glories of Palo Alto, Resaca, 
Monterey, and the fourteen battles of Scott from Vera 
Cruz to Chapultepec ; though like him I had retired 
from the army, — I could not regard myself as of so 
little consequence as he did. I felt that nothing less 
than the commission of a brigadier would be a proper 
appreciation of my record and my profession. I am 
sorry to be obliged to confess that I placed myself 
where the gaze of the multitude might rest upon me ; 
but alas ! they did not see me. I was not the provi- 
dential man of the Great Rebellion, and the micro- 
scopes of the people failed to bring me into view. 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 93 

But my own position enables me to see more clearly 
that of the illustrious soldier of whose deeds I am the 
admiring chronicler. 

Grant exhibited no ambitious spirit — he was at 
work for the nation, not for himself. He said nothing 
in public — the people of Galena hardly knew the 
sound of his voice ; but there, in the streets of his 
town, he raised the standard of the loyal cause, and 
invited the hardy and patriotic men of the place to 
rally for its defence. In less than a week after the 
news from Fort Sumter had arrived, he w T as drilling a 
company ; but he did not claim even the rank to which 
he had risen in the regular army, the cause, and not 
himself, being still uppermost in his thought. 

The company proposed to elect him to this highest 
office within their gift. Doubtless he would have 
accepted the position, but a gentleman with more 
ardent aspirations for military glory frankly acknowl- 
edged his desire to obtain this place ; and Grant 
declined the honor. He stepped out of the way to 
accommodate another, but he consented to go with 
the company to Springfield, the capital of Illinois. 
He was accompanied on his journey by the Hon. E. 
B. Washburn, who introduced him to Governor Yates. 
The chief magistrate did not appear at first to be pro- 
foundly impressed by the captain, and did not take 
much notice of him. 

Grant was determined to use a laboring oar in the 
work before the loyal country, and he wrote to the 
adjutant general of the army at Washington. He did 
not apply for a position as brigadier, but simply stated 
that he had been educated at the public expense at 



94 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

West Point ; and as the country was in peril, he con- 
sidered it his duty to place whatever skill and expe- 
rience he had acquired at the disposal of the govern- 
ment, offering his services in any capacity in which 
they might be needed. This modest offer brought no 
response from the War Department. 

While Grant was waiting for the moving of the 
waters, he visited Cincinnati, where McClellan, who 
had been appointed a major general of volunteers by 
the governor of Ohio, was organizing his forces. The 
"Little Napoleon" of the first years of the rebellion 
had served with Grant in Mexico, and they had be- 
come acquainted there. Both were in Worth's brigade 
at the siege of Vera Cruz, and both had been honora- 
bly mentioned for gallant conduct at Chapultepec and 
El Molino del Rey. 

Grant was seeking a position in which he could 
make himself useful to the country. He twice called 
at the headquarters of General McClellan, but failed 
to see him on either occasion. He thought it possible 
that his old comrade in arms might offer him a place 
on his staff, which appears to have been the highest 
aspiration of the great commander at this time. Fail- 
ing to see McClellan, he returned to Springfield. 

While he was waiting at the capital, Governor Yates 
sent for him, and wished to inquire whether he knew 
how many men belonged in a company, how many 
companies in a regiment, and what officers were re- 
quired in such an organization — questions which 
seemed to have been especially perplexing to the 
earnest and loyal chief magistrate of the state. Grant 
assured him that he understood all about such matters ; 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 95 

that he had been educated at West Point, and had served 
eleven years in the regular army. This straightfor- 
ward reply helped the governor out of his annoying 
dilemma, and Grant was invited to take a seat at the 
capital and officiate as adjutant general, in which 
capacity he served for several weeks during the hurry 
of sending off the troops, rendering the most valuable 
assistance from his familiarity with the details of mil- 
itary organizations. 

Though the future hero had made no parade of 
himself or his accomplishments, several regiments 
desired to elect him as their colonel ; but for reasons 
of his own, which do not appear, — though I suspect 
that his military prejudice against electing officers 
was the strongest one, — he declined all these over- 
tures. One who knew him better than others sug- 
gested to the governor that he should appoint him to 
some regiment, without previously consulting him. 
The suggestion was acted upon, and Captain Grant 
was appointed colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of 
Infantry. The commission was promptly accepted, 
and Colonel Grant hastened to Mattoon, where the 
regiment was in camp, and assumed the command. 



96 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER IX. 

Wherein Captain Galligaske?i has Something to say 
about Citizen Soldiers, and follows the illustrious 
Soldier into the Field in Missouri. 

THE " thinking bayonets " of the United States 
army, in a merely disciplinary point of view, 
were not at first the best of material of which to make 
soldiers. To a vastly greater extent than any other 
armies which have been gathered since the founda- 
tions of the earth were laid, they were composed of 
intelligent, educated men. They could read and 
write, and were competent to do their own thinking, 
and to form their own judgments. They had ideas 
of their own in regard to the war, and the means of 
carrying it on. 

The men in the ranks, as well as those with war- 
rants and commissions in their pockets, were, without 
many exceptions, the graduates of the free schools 
which are the greatest glory of the nation. They 
read the newspapers, the potent educators of the 
people. They were the village politicians, the 
schoolmasters, the printers, the intelligent mechan- 
ics, the merchants, ministers, lawyers, and doctors 
of the country. There was no pursuit or profession 
in the land which was not represented in the volun- 
teer army. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 97 

All of them were thoroughly imbued with the 
spirit of our democratic institutions. Each man in 
the rank and file of the grand army, as a citizen, was 
the peer of the president, the governor of his state, 
or of the mightiest man of the nation. Any infrac- 
tion of their rights they were ready to resent and 
resist. Regarded, therefore, as the mere insensate 
humanity of which an army is composed, they were 
not the most hopeful material. Blindly to obey with- 
out question, heavily to be hampered with the details 
of what seemed to them needless restrictions and reg- 
ulations, meekly to ignore their own will, and follow 
unchallenged the will of another, was a condition of 
life for which their education and habits had not pre- 
pared them. They were willing to fight to the death, 
but to become mere stupid machines, moved by their 
officers, was at first hardly within the scope of their 
democratic philosophy. Even while they acknowl- 
edged the necessity of strict discipline, and advocated 
its enforcement, the details of the daily routine 
pinched them severely. 

The officers of the regular army were rigid disci- 
plinarians. Those who had been in the service had 
been accustomed to different and coarser material 
than that which formed the volunteer army. Their 
men had never had a voice in choosing their offi- 
cers, whose responsibility was in the direction of the 
War Department, and not at all in the direction of 
the force they commanded. It had been their prov- 
ince to command, as it had been that of their men 
to obey, not only on the battle-field, but in all the 
minutiae of the camp and the garrison. One oi 
7 



98 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

these soldiers could be punished for neglecting to 
button his coat on parade, or to clean the spot of 
rust from the barrel of his musket ; for being two 
inches short of the regulation step, or for a degree 
of variation in the angle of his feet in the line. Men 
who had left the plough in the furrow on the farm 
which they had paid for and owned, to fight the bat- 
tles of the republic, were at least impatient under 
such restraints. 

Efficient regular officers, however popular they be- 
came on the field of battle, were in perhaps a major- 
ity of instances exceedingly obnoxious to the troops 
in camps of organization and discipline. With the 
democratic ideas of the soldiers, with their repub- 
lican notions of equality, it was hardly possible that 
it should be otherwise ; for the transition of the citizen 
from his social rank in the city and the village to the 
ranks of the army was a violent and radical change to 
him. Doubtless, in many cases, these West Point 
officers were martinets, and, " armed with a little 
brief authority," were unnecessarily arbitrary and 
severe ; but it was not these alone who were stigma- 
tized as tk tyrants" and " oppressors." 

Without discipline, even down to the minute de- 
tails of which a civilian can have no adequate con- 
ccj^tion or appreciation, an army is inefficient, and in 
a measure useless. The regular officers justified them- 
selves before the enemy, if they did not sooner, not 
alone in the merit of their fighting capacity, but in 
those obnoxious details of discipline. 

Grant was a regular army officer, a strict but pru- 
dent disciplinarian. regiments desired to 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 99 

elect him as their colonel, which amply vouches for 
his popularity before he had come into direct and 
intimate contact with the volunteer force. There was 
magic in the idea of having a commander who had not 
only received a regular military education, but who 
had won a reputation on the field of battle. It was a 
guaranty of the future welfare of the regiment. To 
maintain this respect, and keep up this popularity 
during the actual enforcement of arbitrary and dis- 
agreeable military regulations, was a vastly greater 
achievement. 

The Twenty-first Illinois Infantry was a body of 
three months troops. In this, even more than in 
many other regiments, the democratic ideas of equal- 
ity, so pernicious in a military organization, were 
prevalent to such an extent that the colonel, whose 
place Grant had been appointed to fill, could not man- 
age it. Peculiar circumstances were involved in the 
relations of the commander and the troops ; and when 
it is considered that the lesson of the necessity of 
discipline had not yet been learned, it is hardly proper 
to blame either party. The regiment was then in a 
demoralized condition, but it was composed of splen- 
did material, and its subsequent record proves that its 
men were apt scholars in the school of discipline as 
well as in that of actual conflict. 

They were proud to have a regular army officer as 
their leader ; but when he made his appearance before 
them, his rather rusty clothes, and plain, matter-of- 
fact manner, excited their ridicule. However they 
soon stumbled against his iron will, and promptly 
realized that they had a commander who had been 



IOO OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

in the habit of being obeyed, and who intended to be 
in the present instance. He was not a showy man, 
and not one who was disposed merely to play soldier. 
They saw that he meant fight, and meant discipline. 

Colonel Grant marched his regiment to Casey ville, 
where he drilled the men for four weeks, transforming 
them from a mob into one of the best disciplined bodies 
of troops in the country ; indeed, the Twenty-first 
became noted for its drill and discipline. It was no 
easy thing at that time, when the private in the ranks 
regarded himself as the equal of the colonel, and was 
unwilling, even in his military relations, to sacrifice 
his own individual will, — it was no easy thing to 
bring order and regularity out of the chaos of equal- 
ity and confusion. But Grant accomplished this, and 
more than this ; and he did it so skilfully and adroitly 
that no heads were broken, and no man was persuaded 
into the belief that he was no longer an American 
citizen. 

Grant has been nominated to the highest office 
in the gift of the people — a position which will make 
him the peer of emperors and kings ; and it is impor- 
tant to deduce from his record the evidence of his 
fitness for this splendid elevation. An iron will, un- 
modified by other noble traits of character, is an cle- 
ment of weakness rather than of strength, for a merely 
obstinate man at the helm of state is a discordant and 
dangerous element. A strong will, sustained and 
dignified by high aims and genuine principle, is a 
godlike attribute ; without true principle and high 
aims, it reduces the man to the vilest brute level : it 
makes him a Nero or a Caligula. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. IOI 

I am filled with admiration when I think of the 
excellent manner in which Grant managed this regi- 
ment, and raised it from disgrace and inefficiency to 
honor and usefulness. I do not hazard much in de- 
claring, that, under the circumstances, it was one of 
his most skilful achievements. Then he was without 
influence ; there was none of the magic in his name 
which time and victory have wreathed around it ; his 
reputation as an officer hardly equalled that of hun- 
dreds of others around him. He took a disorganized, 
turbulent regiment, recruited it in a few clays up to the 
maximum standard, and, in spite of all the disadvan- 
tages in the material and the surrounding circum- 
stances, raised it to the highest state of discipline. 
His prompt and perfect success demonstrates his 
superior executive ability. He won the hearts of 
his men, so that they reenlisted for three years. He 
had entire control over them, and his influence was 
unbounded. 

He was obliged to educate his command up to his 
ideas of discipline, to exterminate their republican 
notions of equality, so far as they interfered with 
complete military subordination, and to inspire their 
bosoms with the true spirit of a patriot army. It 
does not appear that he achieved this miracle by 
blind, injudicious severity. His modesty and his firm- 
ness were yoked together to carry him through the 
emergency. He used tact and skill, as well as force, 
in harmonizing the discordant materials, and soon 
blended the whole in symmetrical union, and welded 
himself to the mass by a bond of sympathy, a chain 
of inilucnce, which none of the accidents of hard 



102 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

service could break. To me this marvellous influence 
which he obtained over his men, and which he always 
obtained, however his numbers swelled, is one of the 
most significant indications of his greatness. 

The American people are no man-worshippers ; I 
say it advisedly and confidently. They are generous 
in their regard, and no earnest patriot can ever want 
encouragement ; but they judge men by the quality 
of their services. They praise and applaud, perhaps 
extravagantly, when a man does a noble deed ; but 
they worship the deed rather than the man. General 
McClellan was for a time the idol of the soldiers and 
the idol of the people. They cheered and shouted 
for him, and hailed him as their young Napoleon ; 
but when he failed to answ r er their reasonable expecta- 
tions, they dropped him, and buried him forever and 
forever. So would they have done with Grant, and 
Sherman, and Thomas, and Sheridan, if they had 
failed them in the hour of trial ; and so will they yet 
do, if they are recreant to their high estate, or false 
to the principles to which the people hold them. 

No man has been more honored or praised in his 
sphere than Andrew Johnson ; and none has been 
more thoroughly detested, despised, and cast out. It 
was not the man they worshipped ; it was the princi- 
ple of which he was the representative. No man in 
all the country has a personal influence which can 
save him from obloquy when he deserts his colors or 
fails in his duty. Glory and honor to the people who 
faithfully cling to their heroes and statesmen while 
they are true to their principles ! Glory and honor, 
also, to the people who sternly pull down and cast 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 103 

out their heroes and statesmen, whatever high emi- 
nence they may have gained, when the)' are recreant 
to the trust imposed in them ! Thus do our repub- 
lican institutions operate, that no amount of personal 
popularity can save the great man from his doom 
when he is guilty of treachery or unjustifiable fail- 
ure. They do not worship the man ; if they did, 
they w T ould cling to him through his shame and in- 
fidelity. 

Neither the soldiers nor the people blindly worship 
Grant. It always has been, and still is, possible for 
him to fall. If he should prove false to the principles 
of which an overwhelming majority of the people 
hold him up as the representative, both soldiers and 
citizens would remorselessly trample him under their 
feet, and forget that- he had ever been their idol. I 
say, then, that his remarkable popularity, its steady 
blaze in the past, and its constant brightening, are the 
best evidences of his solid abilities, of his unflinching 
devotion to principle, of the purity of his patriotism. 

I know what the people would do with him if he 
should.fail them ; but in the light of his glorious rec- 
ord through a period of seven of the most eventful 
years in the history of the country, I feel that it is as 
impossible for him to be recreant in thought or in 
deed as it is for the sun to cease shining. I dwell 
fondly on the early days of his military career in the 
Rebellion, for then, before Fame had twined his lau- 
rel, or success had inspired him, we find that every 
act he performed, every order he issued, every move- 
ment he made, is fit to be recorded in the temple of 
his fame. Those who are looking up to him, on the 



104 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

dazzling height to which his genius and his high prin- 
ciple have borne him, may be instructed by a review 
of his relations with the Twenty-first Illinois Regi- 
ment. They may see the man there, as well as at 
Vicksburg and Appomattox Court House. 

Colonel Grant was drilling his men at Caseyville, 
when there was a rumor that Quincy, on the Missis- 
sippi River, was in danger from the guerrilla rebels of 
Missouri. He was ordered to the exposed point, and, 
in the absence of transportation, marched his regi- 
ment one hundred and twenty miles of the distance. 
From Quincy he was ordered over the river into Mis- 
souri, for the protection of the Hannibal and St. Jo- 
seph's Railroad ; and Brigadier General Pope, then 
in command of the forces in that section, stationed 
him at Mexico, forty miles north of the Missouri 
River. 

On the march to this place, the Twenty-first passed 
through a small village whose principal establishment 
was a grocery, at which the principal article on sale 
was whiskey. It was a melancholy fact that many 
of the citizens now transformed into soldiers had ac- 
quired avillanous habit of imbibing this fiery fluid, so 
destructive to good discipline. Some of the troops 
stole out of the line, and filled their canteens with the 
liquor at this shop, and, lacking discretion as well as 
correct personal habits, were soon reeling from the 
effects of their frequent potations. Without any vio- 
lent demonstrations of indignation, which many men 
would have deemed necessary on such an occasion, 
Colonel Grant halted his regiment, as if to afford the 
men a brief rest. Without giving any one an oppor- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. IO5 

tnnity to suspect that anything was the matter, he 
passed along the lines, and examined each canteen. 
Whenever he detected the odor of whiskey, he coolly 
emptied the contents on the ground, " without note or 
comment." The intoxicated ones he ordered to be 
tied behind the wagons, and kept there till they were 
animated by higher views of military discipline. Whis- 
key and all intoxicating liquors were rigidly excluded 
from his camp. 

Grant was always on time himself, and required 
promptness and punctuality in all his officers. He 
never blustered, or seemed to be in a hurry. He in- 
sisted that everything should be done at the appointed 
time. One morning the colonel was walking about 
the camp, smoking his pipe, when he discovered a 
company drawn up at roll call. It was half an hour 
after the required time, antl Grant quietly informed 
the officer that it was no time to call the roll, and 
ordered him to send his men immediately to their 
quarters. He was promptly obeyed, and the delin- 
quent was punished for his want of punctuality. The 
colonel resumed his pipe and his walk, as though 
nothing had happened. This quiet, undemonstra- 
tive way was effective, and the offence was not again 
repeated. 

Careful and particular in the minor details of duty, 
his regiment was brought up to the highest degree of 
discipline ; but it was quite as much the manner as 
the substance which attracts attention. 



I06 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER X. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken relates a -pleasing 
Anecdote of the illustrious , Soldier, and shows 
how and why he captured Paducah. 

SEVERAL regiments were engaged in Northern 
Missouri in guarding railroads and repressing 
guerrillas, and it was necessary that they should act in 
concert. Grant was the junior in rank of the other 
colonels ; but as they had a reasonable delicacy in 
issuing orders to one who" had been educated at West 
Point, and who had seen service on the battle-field, 
the commander of the Twenty-first was appointed 
acting brigadier. 

In the latter part of July the chaplain of his regiment 
informed Grant that he had been appointed a Briga- 
dier General of Volunteers. Pie was quite surprised 
at the intelligence, for he had made no application for 
the promotion, either directly or through any of his 
friends. The apjoointment was obtained by Mr. Wash- 
burn, who had introduced him to Governor Yates. 
This gentleman exhibited a high appreciation of the 
abilities of Grant, and it could not but be a happy 
thought to him, in the light of subsequent events, that 
he had been instrumental in bringing forward the 
illustrious soldier, though I doubt not that, without 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. lO'j 

the aid of any influence in his favor, he would in due 
time have soared to his proper level. 

As a regimental commander, Colonel Grant made 
his mark ; for he always did everything well. He 
was acting in this capacity in order to serve his coun- 
try, and not as a stepping-stone to future eminence. 
He discharged his duties earnestly and faithfully in 
this comparatively humble sphere, as though he had 
already reached the height of his ambition. He gave 
his men an example of the most rigid simplicity of 
manners. He rarely wore a uniform, except on pa- 
rade, and was above any vain show of " fuss and 
feathers." Nothing ever moved him so that his emo- 
tion came to the surface, and when informed that he 
had been appointed a brigadier, he was as undis- 
turbed as though the matter did not concern him. 

In his regimental experience, where he was more 
directly and intimately connected with the soldiers, he 
labored zealously to promote their welfare, morally 
and spiritually, as well as in a military point of view. 
He manifested a lively interest in the observance of 
the ordinances of religion among the men. He en- 
couraged the chaplain in his efforts to keep the spirit 
of the gospel alive in the troops. He insisted upon 
having divine services in his camp, and used his in- 
fluence to secure the attendance of all under his com- 
mand. He regularly attended worship himself, except 
when prevented by his duties from being present. 

One day, at the mess table of the regiment, when 
the officers were all seated,. Colonel Grant remarked 
that it was his custom, when at home, to invite any 
clergyman, who was present in his house, to ask a 



IOS OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

blessing at the table, adding that a blessing was as 
much needed in the camp as at home, and, if it was 
agreeable to the views of his officers, he would like 
to have the chaplain ask a blessing every time they sat 
down to eat. 

The rebel General Jeff. Thompson, at the head 
of a horde of partisan cutthroats, w^ent through a por- 
tion of the State of Missouri where Grant was located, 
committing petty outrages, and issuing absurd procla- 
mations, probably in imitation of Governor Gamble, 
who seemed determined to fight out the battle with 
paper manifestoes. Grant, at the head of a small 
force, marched in pursuit of the marauder. 

It is said that Washington was utterly devoid of 
humor, and that he was not known to have made more 
than one joke in his lifetime. When Governor Trum- 
bull, of Connecticut, suggested that the standing army 
of the United States should be limited to four thousand 
men, Washington moved that no enemy should invade 
the country with a larger force than four thousand. 
While it must be acknowledged that Grant is not a 
joker, he is not without the element of humor in his 
composition. Some of his punishments are ludicrous 
and amusing, though they are always judicious and 
effective. 

During the campaign in Missouri, while Grant was 
marching after Jeff. Thompson, his advance consisted 
of a body of Indiana cavalry, commanded by one 
Lieutenant Wickficld, a man of expedients, especially 
when suggested by an empty stomach. At noon this 
force arrived at a farm-house, which looked sufficiently 
thrifty to assure the campaigners that its larder would 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. IO9 

supply wherewith to correct the vacuum which pru- 
dent nature loathes. Wickficld, with two of his in- 
ferior officers, dismounted and entered the dwelling. 

Though the great country for which Grant was 
fighting had yet hardly heard his name, he was suf- 
ficiently well known in this locality to wield a pow- 
erful influence. Wickfield realized that the potent 
name of the brigadier would be enough to induce the 
people to bring forward the best the house afforded, 
and he had the impudence to declare that he was 
Brigadier General Grant. The name was indeed a 
tower of strength, and the best that the larder con- 
tained was set before the hungry guests. They ate 
not merely, all they wanted, but all they could, and 
asked how much was to be paid for their entertain- 
ment. The farmer's folks seemed to think it was a 
sufficient honor to have fed a live brigadier, and they 
declined payment. The officers went on their way, 
rejoicing in the plenty that filled their stomachs. 

The n^ain body of the army halted a few miles from 
this house, to rest for a time ; Grant rode forward, and 
came to the house in which the officers of his advance 
had been so sumptuously regaled. He was not so 
ethereal as to be above the necessity of eating ; and, 
indulging in a course of reasoning similar to that of 
Wickfield, he rode up to the front gate of the house, 
and asked the occupants if they could prepare him 
a dinner. 

" No," responded the mistress of the house, in tones 
gruff and unamiable ; " General Grant and his staff 
have just been here and eaten up everything in the 
house, except one pumpkin pie." 



IIO OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

" Humph," said Grant, in his stoical manner, with- 
out exhibiting any surprise at the singular intelligence. 
" What is your name ? " 

" Selvidge," answered the woman. 

" Will you keep that pie till I send an officer for 
it?" added Grant, throwing a half dollar to her. 

" Yes, I will," she replied, picking up the money ; 
and Grant rode off, doubtless thinking that he did not 
realize any benefit from the dinner which the brigadier 
and his staff had eaten, for he was probably willing 
to believe that the impostor had not taken his name 
in vain. 

That evening, when the force had gone into camp 
for the night, the several regiments were ordered to 
appear on parade at half past six o'clock, with par- 
ticular instructions that every man should be present. 
The order was a very unusual one, for dress parades 
on the march were not required, and a decided sensa- 
tion was created in the army. Some thought the 
enemy were upon them, and various explanations of 
the strange order were suggested, though none of them 
w T ere correct. At the appointed time the parade was 
formed, ten columns deep, and nearly a quarter of a 
mile in length. The ordinary ceremonial of the dress 
parade was punctiliously performed, and then the 
assistant adjutant general read the following luminous 
order : — 

" Headquarters, Army in tiie Field. 
"Special Order, jVo. 112. 

" Lieutenant Wickfield, of the Indiana Cavalry. 

having on this day eaten everything in Mrs. Selvidgre's 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Ill 

house, except one pumpkin pie, Lieutenant Wickfield 
is hereby ordered to return with an escort of one 
hundred cavalry, and eat that pie also. 

U. S. Grant, 
Brigadier General Commanding" 

As no one, or any body of men, ever presumed to 
disobey an order of General Grant, at seven o'clock 
Lieutenant Wickfield, with his escort of one hundred 
men, filed out of the camp, amid the derisive cheers 
of the entire army. The escort unite in their testi- 
mony that he consumed the whole of the pie, and, so 
far as they were able to judge, are willing to affirm 
that he enjoyed the treat, especially as sufficient time 
had elapsed since his dinner to enable him to do so 
with impunity. 

Grant's commission as a brigadier general reached 
him August 7, though it was antedated May 17. 
In harmony with his antecedents thus far, which 
placed him neither first nor last, he was the seven- 
teenth on a list of thirty-four original appointments 
in the grade to which he was assigned. Though 
Mr. Washburn had been forward in procuring his 
appointment, Grant was unanimously recommended 
by the Illinois delegation in Congress — not one of 
whom he knew personally before the commencement 
of the outbreak, and not one of whom had the slightest 
idea of the magnificent grant they were making for 
the nation. 

At the time of General Grant's appointment, the 
Western Department, which included all the region 
between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, 



112 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

with the State of Illinois and such parts of Western 
Kentucky and Tennessee as might be in possession of 
the national arms, was under command of General 
Fremont. For his own convenience, the chief of this 
department divided his territory into sub-districts ; 
and an the ist of September Grant was ordered to the 
command of the South-east Missouri District, includ- 
ing Western Kentucky and Tennessee. On the 4th 
of the month he established his headquarters at 
Cairo- 
General Grant was now in a position to make him- 
self felt, and he began to gaze out upon the broad 
held of Southern aggression before him. He was on 
the actual dividing line between loyalty and rebel- 
lion, prepared to defend the one and invade the other. 
Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, had made his sen- 
sational reply to the call for troops, that his state 
would furnish none for the " wicked " purpose of sub- 
duing her sister Southern States, and had issued his 
proclamation of neutrality, which meant nothing but 
rebellion, as proved by the subsequent conduct of the 
man. There could be no neutral state between the 
fiery South and the indignant North. 

Cairo was a point of the utmost importance to the 
loyal cause, as a depot of supplies, as a gunboat ren- 
dezvous, and as a strategetic position. The Mobile 
and Ohio Railroad extended through the western part 
of Tennessee to the northern line of that state, where 
it diverged into three branches, terminating respec- 
tively at Hickman, Columbus, and Paducah, con- 
necting these places with all the principal cities of 
the South, each of which (night form a base of 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 113 

operation for offensive movements on the part of the 
rebels. 

Neutrality in Kentucky meant rebellion. It was 
proclaimed in the interests of the South, but it was 
not, and could not be, respected by either party. It 
was first violated by the rebels, who failed to sound 
the notes of indignation when Bishop General Polk 
marched his army into the state and seized upon 
Hickman and Columbus. General Grant had studied 
his maps faithfully, and fully comprehended the situa- 
tion, not only in its present but in its future signifi- 
cance. Polk was in full march upon Paducah, the 
possession of which would give the rebels the con- 
trol of the navigation of the Ohio and the entrance 
of the Tennessee, at the mouth of which the town is 
located. 

Grant was wide awake, and a few days after he 
had established his headquarters at Cairo he com- 
pleted his hasty preparations for the capture of Padu- 
cah, and started late in the evening with two regiments 
and a light battery, with two gunboats — the naval 
force of his district having also been placed under his 
direction. Arriving at his objective point the next 
morning, he landed his force, and took possession 
of the town, the rebels under Tilghman hastily evac- 
uating the place while the national troops were 
landing. 

Paducah was a strong secession town. Recruiting 
officers from the rebel army were enlisting its citizens 
to fight against the Union even when Grant landed. 
The prompt movement was a necessity, and Grant 
made it without the order of his superior officer, 
S 



114 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

though he notified Fremont of the purposes of the 
enemy, and asked his permission to check them ; but 
he started before this permission reached him. He 
also announced his purpose to the legislature of Ken- 
tucky, then in session at Frankfort, but neither did he 
wait for their permission. A few hours of delay 
would have defeated the objects of the expedition. 
He was prompt, and thus saved the West from 
the mortification and disaster of having the Ohio 
closed. 

The inhabitants of Paducah were in full sympathy 
with the Rebellion. They believed in the neutrality 
of Kentucky, even while they harbored and assisted 
in recruiting a rebel force in their midst. Grant 
issued a proclamation, in which he informed them that 
he came not as an enemy, but as their fellow-citizen, 
to respect and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens. 
He declared that he had nothing to do with opinions, 
and should deal only with armed rebellion, its aiders 
and abettors. He could not help mingling a little of 
his quaint humor with the solid declarations of the 
document; adding, that whenever it was manifest the 
people of Paducah were able to defend themselves, 
maintain the authority of the government, and protect 
the rights of loyal citizens, he should withdraw the 
forces under his command. It was not their style to 
defend themselves from rebels, or to maintain the 
authority of the government, so that the necessity of 
withdrawing the force was not realized. 

Grant remained in the town only till noon. Hav- 
ing garrisoned the position, he returned to Cairo, 
where Fremont's permission to capture Paducah, if 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. II5 

he felt strong enough, awaited him. He had already- 
felt his strength, however, and Bishop Polk had been 
effectually checkmated. Grant immediately took pos- 
session of Smithland, at the mouth of the Cumberland 
River ; and though he was not in position to order a 
forward movement himself, he seems to have been 
preparing the way for the triumphal march of the 
Union armies, which ended only when the hordes of 
treason laid down their arms at the feet of him who 
now opened the gates of their wide domain. 

It was of the highest importance that these places 
should be held, and Grant placed General Charles F. 
Smith in command of the position, with a brigade of 
the most reliable troops. This man was his beau 
ideal of a soldier, and the regular army officers re- 
garded him as one of its most able and accomplished 
veterans. It is said that he had incurred the displeas- 
ure of General Scott, who neither forgave nor forgot ; 
otherwise he might have been assigned to the position 
taken by McClellan. He was a stern and unyielding 
disciplinarian, with little or none of the tact which 
had characterized Grant's treatment of this difficult 
problem, and his severity soon embroiled him with 
the volunteers. Politicians and newspapers cried him 
down, and his sins were blazoned at the War Depart- 
ment. He was in imminent peril of being sent in dis- 
grace into the shade before he had fought a single 
battle. But Grant understood him, and saved him ; 
and " Paducah Smith " at Fort Donelson, leading the 
fiercest charge, bareheaded and inspired, justified him- 
self and his steadfast friend. Grumblers and slander- 
ers were shamed and silenced. 



Il6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Grant's wonderfully correct estimate of men has 
proved to be one of the secrets of his success ; and here, 
in the first year of the Rebellion, and before he had 
been a week in command of this district, he began to 
demonstrate in this direction not only his fidelity to a 
friend, but his firmness in the good cause. 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. I I 7 



CHAPTER XI. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken describes the Battle 
of Belmont, and further illustrates the military 
Ghialitics of the illustrious Soldier, as exhibited 
iit that fierce Fight. 

WITH such a man as Smith at Paducah, placed 
there, and kept there, by General Grant, the 
outlets of those great rivers, the Tennessee and the 
Cumberland, which led down into the very heart of 
the Rebellion, were safe. We looked to Grant — we, 
within the narrow sphere he then occupied — for an- 
other movement, for some brilliant and well-conceived 
operation, which would gladden the hearts and 
strengthen the arms of the men of the loyal cause ; but 
we looked in vain, for he was not the commander of 
a department, and was held back by General Fremont. 
But Grant was busy, and not a moment of his precious 
time was lost, however it may have been turned aside 
from its highest usefulness. The hardy and enthusi- 
astic volunteers from the North-west were poured in 
upon him until he had about twenty thousand. He 
employed himself in perfecting their organization and 
improving their discipline. 

Columbus, which had been fortified and held by 
Polk and Pillow, was every day increasing its strength 



IlS OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

and importance. It had closed the Mississippi, and 
every point in Grant's district was continually menaced 
by it. He desired to " wipe it out," and applied to 
Fremont for permission to do so, declaring that, with 
a little addition to his present force, he would take the 
place. His application was not even noticed, and the 
rebels were permitted to strengthen their works, and 
afford all the aid they could to the turbulent hosts in 
Missouri. 

In the mean time the rebel General Price had cap- 
tured Lexington, but abandoned his prize at the 
approach of Fremont, and retreated to the south- 
western part of the state, where he remained, con- 
fronted by a small force of national troops, gathering 
strength for another hostile movement towards the 
north. Polk, who was in command of Columbus, 
occasionally sent troops over the river to Belmont, on 
the opposite bank, from which they marched to re- 
enforce Price. The safety of the Union army before 
him required that this channel of communication 
should be closed, or at least that the enemy in Mis- 
souri should be prevented for a time from receiving 
further assistance. 

General Grant was therefore ordered to make a 
movement which should threaten Columbus, and thus 
compel Polk to retain his force. Accordingly, he sent 
Colonel Oglesby towards the point he was to menace, 
and also directed General Smith at Paducah to march 
towards Columbus, and demonstrate in the rear of 
that place. The point to be gained was simply to 
prevent reinforcements from being sent over the river, 
for Grant was prohibited from making an attack upon 
the threatened point 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. II9 

Belmont was partially fortified. It was a camp for 
rebel troops, from which they could conveniently be 
sent to cooperate with Price or Jeff. Thompson, and a 
depot of supplies gathered up in Missouri and Arkan- 
sas, where they could be readily sent over to Colum- 
bus. On the evening of November 6, Grant started 
down the river with a fleet of steamers, under the con- 
voy of two gunboats, to demonstrate on a larger scale 
against the enemy's stronghold. He had with him a 
force of thirty-one hundred men, comprising five 
regiments of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and 
a section of artillery. The movement was not in- 
tended as an attack, even upon Belmont, at the 
beginning. His troops were exceedingly raw, some 
of them having received their arms only two days 
before. 

The fleet continued down the river about ten miles, 
and Grant made a feint of landing on the Kentucky 
side, remaining at the shore till the next morning, to 
give color to the idea that, with Smith, he intended to 
attack Columbus. But during the night he ascertained 
that Polk was crossing large bodies of troops to Bel- 
mont, with the evident intention of pursuing Oglesby. 
Then the intrepid general decided to "clean out" the 
camp at Belmont. This was literally what he intended 
to do, and as every man's success ought to be measured 
by his intentions, it is very important that this fact 
should be fully comprehended. It is absurd to sup- 
pose that a military man of Grant's experience pro- 
posed to take and hold the place. He had every 
reason to believe the enemy had double his force, 
and he knew that they were well provided with 



120 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

steamers and gunboats, and could send over reenforce- 
ments rapidly ; and he was also aware that Belmont 
was covered by the guns of Columbus. Against this 
odds, and under these circumstances, he could not for 
a moment have entertained the idea of securing a 
permanent advantage. He contemplated only a bold 
dash, which was sufficient to accomplish the object of 
the expedition. 

The little army was landed at Hunter's Point, three 
miles above the rebel works, and just out of the range 
of the Columbus batteries. The line was formed, and, 
with Grant in the advance with the skirmishers, moved 
forward. It soon encountered the enemy, and drove 
them before it. The action waxed warmer and 
warmer as the lines of national troops advanced, and 
the contest became very severe. Grant still kept in 
front, animating the soldiers by his heroic example, in 
utter contempt of anything like danger. His horse 
was killed under him, and he was in peril from first 
to last ; but his gallant behavior stimulated the civilian 
colonels under him, and they stood up squarely to the 
work before them. Thus led, the raw soldiers from 
Illinois behaved like veterans, and fought with the 
utmost desperation. The contest continued for four 
hours, at the end of which time the Union troops had 
driven the rebels foot by foot to their works ; and 
then, charging through the abatis which surrounded 
the fortifications, forced the beaten foe to the river. 
Several hundred prisoners and all the rebel guns 
were captured, and the camp broken up. 

Grant had reached his objective point, and his suc- 
cess was thorough and complete, lie had accom- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 21 

plished all he proposed, and it only remained for him 
to retire from the field, which was of course as much 
a part of his original intention as was the attack. As 
the hour of prosperity is often the most dangerous, so 
was the moment of victory the most perilous to these 
gallant troops. Their success seemed to intoxicate 
them, and instead of pursuing their advantage upon 
the rebel force, sheltering themselves beneath the 
bluff of the river, they went about plundering the 
deserted camp. Their colonels, no better disciplined, 
indulged their vanity in making Union speeches. 

General Grant discovered that the enemy was send- 
ing steamer loads of troops across the river, to a point 
above the camp, to intercept his retreat ; and he was 
anxious to get back to his transports before thev 
arrived. He attempted to form his lines again, but 
the men were too much disorganized to heed orders. 
The general then directed his staff-officers to set fire 
to the camp, in order to check the plunder. The 
smoke attracted the attention of the rebels at Colum- 
bus, who opened fire upon the Unionists. Shot and 
shell brought them to a sense of their duty ; the line 
was formed, and they marched towards the steamers, 
three miles distant. 

The defeated rebels, under the bank of the river, 
having been reenforced by the arrival of three regi- 
ments from Columbus, marched to a point which 
enabled them to intercept the victorious army. An 
officer, on discovering the fact, dashed furiously up to 
the cool commander, and in a highly-excited tone 
cried, " We are surrounded ! " 

" Well, if that is so, we must cut our way out, as 



122 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

we cut our way in," replied Grant, apparently un- 
moved even by this tremendous circumstance. 

His troops were brave men, but such a disaster as 
being surrounded suggested to their inexperience only 
the alternative of surrender, and, under many com- 
manders, such a result must have been inevitable. 
What paralyzes the soldier often produces the same 
effect upon the leader ; but Grant was not " demoral- 
ized." No apparent reverses could exhaust his un- 
conquerable pluck ; he never despaired, and worked 
up a situation out of which another could make 
nothing but defeat, until he brought forth victory. 

" We have whipped them once, and I think we can 
do it again," added Grant, in the midst of the confu- 
sion which the unpleasant prospect caused. 

The troops discovered that Grant had no idea of 
surrendering, and they gathered themselves up for a 
fresh onslaught. The confusion was overcome, and 
the little army charged the enemy, who fought less 
vigorously than earlier in the day, and were again 
forced behind the bank of the river. But, as fresh 
troops were continually arriving from Columbus, there 
was no time to be wasted, and Grant pressed on for 
his transports. There was no unseemly haste, cer- 
tainly nothing like a rout, or even a defeat. Every- 
thing was done in as orderly a manner as rjossible 
with undisciplined troops. 

Grant superintended the execution of his own or- 
ders in the embarkation of his force: and, when i 
of them were on board of the steamers, he sent out a 
party to pick up the wounded. In the morning he 
had posted a reserve in a suitable place for the pro- 




Grant's Escape. —Page 123. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 23 

tection of the fleet, and as soon as the main body were 
secure on the decks of the transports, Grant, attended 
by a single member of his staff, rode out to withdraw 
this force. This guard, ignorant of the requirement of 
good discipline, had withdrawn themselves, and the 
general found himself uncovered "in the presence of the 
advancing foe. Riding up on a hillock, he found him- 
self confronting the whole rebel force, now again in- 
creased by fresh additions from the other side of the 
river. It was a time for an ordinary man to put spurs 
to his steed ; but Grant had an utter contempt for dan- 
ger. He stood still for a moment to examine the situa- 
tion, during which he was a shining mark for rebel 
sharp-shooters. He wore a private's overcoat, the day 
being damp and chilly ; and to this circumstance 
alone can his miraculous escape be attributed. 

He was looking for the party he had sent out in 
search of the wounded, and realized that they had 
been cut off by the foe. Turning his horse, he rode 
slowly back to the landing, so as not to excite the 
attention of his uncomfortable neighbors, who were 
pouring a galling fire into the transports. The steam- 
ers suffered so much from this destructive hail of 
bullets, that they had cast off their fasts, and pushed 
away from the bank, leaving the general behind in the 
midst of the foe. Seeing how the thing was going, 
Grant put spurs to his horse, forcing the steed on his 
haunches down the bank, just as one of the steamers 
was swinging off from the shore. A plank was 
thrown out for him, up which he trotted his horse, 
in the midst of a storm of rebel bullets. 

The field being clear of national troops^ the gun- 



124 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

boats opened a fierce fire upon the rebel ranks, now 
within fifty or sixty yards of the shore, mowing them 
down with grape and canister in the most fearful 
slaughter. The fire of the rebels was fortunately too 
high to inflict any serious injury on the troops in the 
transports, and by five in the afternoon they were out 
of range. 

The next day Grant met, under a flag of truce, 
an old classmate from West Point, then serving on 
General Polk's staff*. He related his personal expe- 
rience at Belmont, stating that he had encountered 
the rebel line when alone. The rebel officer ex- 
pressed his surprise. 

"Was that you?" exclaimed he. "We saw you. 
General Polk pointed you out as a Yankee, and called 
upon the men to test their aim upon you ; but they 
were too busy in trying their skill upon the transports 
to heed the suggestion." 

I point with admiration to the conduct of General 
Grant during that entire day. As an example of 
coolness and courage, he stands unsurpassed, and 
even unrivalled. It was thrilling to behold him, in 
the midst of the trials and discouragements of that 
hard-fought field, the life and the soul of the whole 
affair. He was the only trained soldier on the field, 
ral McClernand, who was daring enough 
to have had three horses shot under him, had no 
actual experience of battle. His men, and especially 
his officers, were undisciplined, and the whole affair 
rested upon his shoulders. But the brave fellows fol- 
lowed his example, and the victory was made sure. 

The material results of the battle were one hundred 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 25 

and seventy-five prisoners, two guns carried off and 
four spiked on the field, and the total destruction of 
the enemy's camp. 

Of the force engaged, Grant had thirty-one hundred 
and fourteen men, according to his official report. 
General Polk declared that, at the beginning of the 
battle, Pillow had five regiments, a battery, and a 
squadron of cavalry; and that five more regiments 
were sent across the river during the fight. The 
rebel force, therefore, must have been double that of 
the Unionists; and probably the disparity was still 
greater. 

My friend Mr. Pollard, with his usual cheerful as- 
sumption, called the battle of Belmont a Confederate 
victory ! Or, stating it a little more mildly, a defeat 
in the beginning changed in the end to an overwhelm- 
ing victory ! Did this amiable rebel ever hear of an 
army defeated by an " overwhelming victory," carry- 
ing oft' their captured guns and prisoners, embarking 
leisurely in their steamers, and retiring while the vic- 
tors were being mowed down in swaths? Grant lost 
four hundred and eighty-five men in killed, wounded, 
and missing ; while Mr. Pollard demolishes his own 
"overwhelming victory" by acknowledging a rebel 
loss of six hundred and forty-two, which was proba- 
bly below the actual number. 

The moral results of the battle, which cannot be 
estimated in captured guns and prisoners, were even 
more satisfactory. Belmont, as settling a question of 
prestige, was the Bunker Hill of the Western sol- 
diers. It gave them confidence in themselves, and 
prepared the way for Donelson and Shiloh. It pre- 



126 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

vented the forces of Jeff Thompson and Price from 
being augmented. 

The unmilitary conduct of some of the colonels, 
gallantly as they fought, exposed them to merited 
rebuke. It is said that Grant himself expected to 
be deprived of his command for fighting this battle, 
and for not effecting his retreat more promptly, hav- 
ing been delayed, as I have shown, by the want of 
proper support from these commanders of regiments, 
who did not control, or attempt to control, the ex- 
cesses of the men. One of them, fearful that the same 
fate was in store for him, waited upon Grant to ascer- 
tain the prospect. He obtained no satisfaction, for the 
general thought the lesson ought to work in his 
mind. 

" Colonel is afraid I will report his bad con- 
duct," said Grant to one of his friends, when the 
repentant and anxious officer had departed. 

"Why don't you do it?" demanded the other. 
" lie and the other colonels are to blame for their 
disobedience, which had nearly involved you in a 
disaster." 

kk These officers had never been under fire," re- 
plied the magnanimous hero. " They did not un- 
derstand how serious an affair it was, and they will 
never forget the lesson they learned. I can judge from 
their conduct in the action that they are made of the 
right stuff. It is better that I should lose my position, 
if it must be, than that the country should lose the ser- 
vices of five such gallant officers when good men are 
scarce." 

Grant did not lose his command; and the future 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 27 

justified the belief of Grant, for three of the five 
colonels won an enviable distinction in subsequent 
battles. 

That was Grant ! It was the imperilled nation, and 
not his own glory, for which he was fighting. 



128 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken rehearses the per- 
sistent Efforts of the illustrious Soldier to obtain 
Permission to attack Fort Henry, and follows 
him to the Capture of that important Position. 

GENERAL GRANT gained no immediate credit 
for his brilliant action at Belmont. The objects 
of the movement were not understood, and as the vic- 
torious army did not retain the position it had won, 
the general public regarded it as a defeat. The bal- 
ance of injury was against the rebels, and in favor of 
the national arms. Grant gained all, and more than 
all, he intended. He had no occasion to be forgiven 
for Belmont. It was his first battle in the Rebellion, 
and the first of the unbroken line of victories he 
achieved which gladdened the heart of the nation 
from time to time. 

Grant was always generous, even to magnanimity. 
His report of the battle bestows the warmest praise 
upon those who deserved it. There was none of that 
petty, sixpenny jealousy in his composition which be- 
littled some other able generals, ami which in a few 
instances seriously interfered with the progress of the 
Union arms. lie had no occasion to decry others 
in order to magnify himself. lie was willing to let 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



I2 9 



his fame take care of itself. He did everything for 
the cause, nothing at all for himself. He was too 
magnanimous to mention the indiscretions of the offi- 
cers who, through lack of experience, imperilled the 
day, for they were errors of the head, and not of the 
heart. 

A few days after the battle of Belmont, Fremont 
was superseded by Halleck. The change did not 
injure the immediate prospects f Grant, though for 
two months the general was employed only in organ- 
izing and drilling troops, some of which were for 
service in his own district, and some were intended 
for other parts of the department, and lie was per- 
mitted to make no forward movement. For the old 
name the new commander substituted the District of 
Cairo, and changed its limits so as to include the por- 
tion of Kentucky west of the Cumberland River. 

During this period of comparative inaction, flags 
of truce frequently passed between Cairo and Colum- 
bus, and interviews between the generals in command 
of the posts took place. General Polk seems to have 
been a very hospitable gentleman, and at the close of 
each conference invariably brought out his wine to 
treat his guests. It was not unusual to propose a 
toast, and on one occasion the bishop general offered 
one which he declared all could drink. The glasses 
were filled, — Grant's with water, of course, — and 
Polk gave, " To General Washington — " He paused 
there, and the company raised their glasses to their 
lips, and were in the act of honoring the great name, 
when the proposer of the sentiment added — " the 
first rebel." 

9 



130 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

" That was scarcely fair, general," interposed Grant, 
who had nearly finished his glass ; "but I will be even 
with you some other time." 

It would have been called a Yankee trick if it had 
been perpetrated by any other than a chivalrous South- 
ern soldier. Two weeks later, another flag was sent 
down the river, and Grant accompanied it. When 
the business of the interview was completed, Polk 
attended to the rites of hospitality as usual. Grant 
turned the conversation into the favorite channel of 
rebel politicians by introducing the subject of state 
rights. The Southern officers were suffered to ex- 
press themselves fully on their pet theme, without 
any serious attempt to controvert their positions. As 
he rose to take his departure, Grant proposed a senti- 
ment in which he said all could agree — " Equal rights 
to all — " He duplicated the pause which Polk had 
made on the previous occasion, until the party had 
partially emptied their glasses, when he added — 
" white and black." 

"Now, general, I think I am even with you," con- 
tinued Grant, in his quiet, unimpressible manner ; 
and the reverend general was obliged to own that he 
had been flanked in his own manoeuvre. 

Columbus was the western extreme of the rebel 
line of defence, which at that time included nearly 
the whole length of the Potomac River in the East. 
The enemy had built Fort Henry on the Tennessee 
River, and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, and 
occupied Bowling Green, near fhe centre of the State 
of Kentucky. The line which included these points 
was the boundary which actually separated the terri- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 131 

tories in possession of the combatants. It was the 
strategic line of the rebels, on which they had placed 
their defences, concentrated their armies, and gathered 
their supplies, both for aggressive movements to the 
North, and to prevent a Union force from penetrating 
to the South. Bowling Green, on a branch of the 
Green River, was at the junction of the two lines of 
railroad from Memphis and from Nashville. Fort 
Henry and Fort Donelson were near the Memphis 
road, protecting it from Union raiders, and supplied 
by it with men and provisions, as well as by the two 
rivers. 

The Gibraltar of the West, as Columbus was called 
by the rebels, mounted one hundred and forty guns, 
was abundantly supplied with men and material, and 
its railway connections afforded every facility for rein- 
forcing it in case of necessity. It closed the Missis- 
sippi against the Union steamers and gunboats. 

Fort Henry, the first connecting link in the rebel 
line of defence, was a strongly-built fortification on 
the right bank of the Tennessee, mounting seventeen 
guns, and provided with accommodations for fifteen 
thousand men. 

Fort Donelson, on the left bank of the Cumberland, 
was a more elaborate work, mounting forty guns, and 
with quarters for twenty thousand troops. These two 
forts effectually closed the rivers on which they were 
located, and were only twelve miles apart, so that 
they could cooperate with each other in cases of emer- 
gency. A strong rebel army at Bowling Green com- 
pleted the defence, and an advance by land was as 
impracticable as by water. .The problem which the 



132 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Western military commanders were called upon to 
solve was, how to break through this line. 

The question seems to have worried Grant to no 
inconsiderable degree, and he studied the matter atten- 
tively during the winter. In January, by order of 
General Halleck, he sent out a heavy force under 
General Smith, in the direction of Columbus, to aid a 
movement on the part of General Thomas in another 
part of the state, and to examine the ground. No 
fighting was done, and the soldiers suffered severely 
from cold ; but the object of the expedition was gained, 
for Thomas defeated the rebels at Mill Springs, where 
the result would have been different if reinforcements 
had been sent from this quarter to the enemy. 

During the winter, the gunboat navy of the West 
was largely augmented and improved, under the ad- 
mirable supervision of Commodore Foote. Ordinary 
river steamers were shorn of their top works, and 
their hulls converted into iron-clad batteries, which 
promised to render efficient service in operations on 
the navigable streams of the West. The brave old 
salt was ably seconded by Halleck and by Grant, 
both in building and in manning his fleet. 

General Smith, on his return from the reconnois- 
sance in force, reported to Grant that the capture of 
Fort Henry was feasible. The general of the district 
was ready at an early day to solve the problem of 
breaking the rebel line of defence. He had kept his 
eye and his thought on this operation ; and while the 
movement was demanded by McClellan, then general- 
in-chief, Halleck appears hardly to have turned his 
attention in that direction ; certainly he had taken no 
active measure to carry out the purpose. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 33 

I am not willing to say that Grant at this time had 
devised a plan for extended operations towards the 
South, but I am confident that he was studying his 
maps and measuring the comparative resources of the 
two armies long before his superiors had any definite 
ideas on the subject. I firmly believe that to him be- 
longs the conception of that grand military movement 
which he so gloriously carried forward in person. 

On the return of Smith from his expedition, Grant 
forwarded his report to General Halleck, and a day 
later, by permission, visited the headquarters of the 
commander of the department at St. Louis, in order 
to obtain permission to attack Fort Henry. Halleck 
was one of the high and mighty men, and his refusal 
was abrupt and sharp. Grant was no orator. He 
proffered his request in the fewest words that would 
express it ; and he did not attempt to sustain his views 
by an argument. He was wounded in his feelings by 
the curtness of his superior, and returned to Cairo 
with the unpleasant impression that his commander 
regarded him as a tyro, capable of perpetrating the 
grossest military blunder. 

But Grant had Fort Henry on the brain, and, in 
spite of his repulse, he could not be satisfied to leave 
with his superior the responsibility of neglecting to 
improve what he regarded as a golden opportunity. 
In the latter part of January he telegraphed to Halleck 
that, with his permission, he would take and hold 
Fort Henry, establish and hold a large camp there. 
A day later he followed up his application with a let- 
ter, demonstrating the practicability of the proposed 
enterprise, and showing the advantage to be gained 



134 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

by a prompt advance. His application was warmly 
seconded by Flag-officer Foote ; and this time the 
desired permission was obtained. Grant was happy 
then ; he had overcome the coldness of Halleck, and 
it only remained for him to justify his predictions. 

Grant was on the most intimate terms of friendship 
with Foote, and these two gallant and devoted men 
worked harmoniously together to achieve a success. 
There was no bickering between them about pre- 
cedence, for both of them sought only to serve the cause 
in which they had embarked. Halleck's detailed in- 
structions arrived on the ist of February, and, in 
view of the experience of others, it is almost a miracle 
that there was not a delay of a month, or at least of a 
week. Grant was a prompt man, and in spite of all 
the precedents made and provided for the occasion, 
he actually started from Cairo on the day after his 
orders reached him. His force, embarked in trans- 
ports, consisted of seventeen thousand men, and Com- 
modore Foote's squadron was composed of seven 
gunboats, only four of which, however, were iron- 
clads. 

On the 4th of February the expedition arrived at 
the scene of operations. Grant had given McCler- 
nand the advance, and this officer landed his troops 
about eight miles below the fort. But the command- 
ing general did not quite comprehend the situation, 
and he was not the man to work in the dark when 
light could be obtained. Going on board of one of 
the gunboats, he directed its captain to steam up the 
river, and under the guns of the fort, in order to draw 
its fire and test its weight of metal. The rebels fired 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 135 

upon the daring intruder, and a shot went through 
the steamer. The purpose of the general was gained, 
and he returned to his forces below, reembarked 
them, and again landed them just out of the reach of 
cannon shot, the range of which he had practically 
demonstrated. 

The enemy were fully alive to the peril which men- 
aced them, and made every preparation for a desper- 
ate resistance. Additional troops were ordered up 
by the railroads, and reserves from Fort Donelson 
stationed where they could be available. The Ten- 
nessee had overflowed its banks, and the country for 
miles around was inundated. Fort Henry was com- 
pletely surrounded by water, and the movements of 
both armies were made with difficulty. But Grant, 
no more dismayed by flood than by fire, gave orders 
to post his troops so as to intercept any departures or 
arrivals of the enemy. 

Before the investment of the fort, intelligence of the 
anticipated arrival of a large rebel force compelled 
Grant to hasten the attack, and at eleven o'clock, on 
the 6th of February, the army marched towards the 
rear of the fort, and the gunboats steamed up the 
river to engage the batteries. The intrepid old sea- 
dog opened fire upon the works, and in an hour and a 
half knocked them all to pieces, silencing every gun. 
General Tilghman surrendered to Commodore Foote 
without conditions ; but only the commander, his staff", 
and sixty men were captured, the main body of the 
rebel army having been sent to Fort Donelson. 

The floods of water and the miry condition of the 
roads prevented the army from reaching the rear of 



136 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the fort in season to be of any service. The cavalry 
was sent in pursuit of the fleeing rebels, but they had 
gone too far to be overtaken. General Tilghman, it 
appeared, did not share the confidence of his superiors 
in the invulnerableness of his works, and early in the 
morning he had posted his entire garrison, with the 
exception of a force sufficient to work his guns, at 
some outworks two miles distant, and out of the 
reach of the shot and shell from the gunboats, where 
they could be hastened to a place of safety. Before 
the result of the battle with the gunboats was known, 
these forces were sent away, and no different action 
on the part of the Union general could have captured 
them. 

The victory was a decided one, though the army 
was prevented from sharing in the glory of capturing 
the fort. The result filled the government of the Con- 
federacy with dismay. One of its strong gates had 
been battered down, and the Tennessee was open 
to the navigation of those pestilent gunboats, which 
had already become the terror of Rebeldom. Prompt 
to assure the leaders of the Confederacy of the disaster 
which had overtaken them, Flag-officer Foote sent 
three of his "pets" up the river, which proceeded as 
far as Florence, Alabama, destroying the railroad 
bridge twenty-five miles above Fort Henry, capturing 
large quantities of stores, and burning many steamers 
and other boats. 

The effect of this success was promptly realized in 
the sudden evacuation of Bowling Green ; and thus 
two of the rebel strongholds were struck down by the 
same blow. But the full advantage of this capture 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 37 

was not to be realized until the Union army was 
ready to move in force towards the south. The vic- 
tory was an easy one, very much to the astonishment 
of the naval and the military officers in command. 
Certainly the position was of importance enough for 
the Confederacy to have staked more upon it than 
it did. 

Grant's idea was triumphant, and he received the 
reward of his persistent application to capture the 
fort, and ample compensation for his harsh rebuff, 
in the consciousness that he had initiated one of the 
grandest movements of the war — grand in its ulti- 
mate results, which his far-seeing eye had already 
discovered, rather than in the present glory of its 
accomr^lishment. 



138 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken states the Results of 
the Victory at Fort Henry, and attends the illus- 
trious Soldier in the Investment of Fort Donelson. 

THE capture of Fort Henry was as inspiring to 
the national troops as it was discouraging to the 
rebels. General Grant telegraphed to Halleck that he 
had taken Fort Henry, and he announced his intention 
to serve Fort Donelson in the same way. Not a word 
had been said before about the strong work on the 
Cumberland, and Grant had no instructions from his 
superior on this point. Halleck made no reply to his 
despatch, though he notified General Buell of the 
expected attack. 

The idea of capturing Donelson was Grant's from 
its inception to its culmination in the surrender. He 
had no definite information in regard to the fort, but 
he formed his plan, not only to attack but to cap- 
ture it. It seems to have been written down in his 
mind from the commencement that there was to be 
no failure. The flood and the continued heavy rains 
delayed the movement, and the troops were obliged to 
fight with the waters to save their scanty supplies. 

General Halleck used every exertion to supply 
Grant with troops and material, but he did not order 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 139 

the movement, or even express any hopes or opinions 
in regard to it. He simply suffered it to proceed, 
yielding all the assistance required of him ; but it would 
have been curious to know what he would have said 
if the enterprise had proved to be a failure. Halleck 
sent minute orders in regard to the disposition of Fort 
Henry, instructing Grant to hold it, intimating that he 
would send picks and shovels to strengthen the work, 
and directed that the guns should be changed so as to 
meet an attack from the land ; but he does not men- 
tion Donelson. He repeats his instructions very care- 
fully on the 10th of the month, again kindly offers to 
send the picks and shovels, and assures the rising hero 
^that large reinforcements would soon join him ; but he 
is thoroughly non-committal on the subject of Fort 
Donelson. 

For my own part, I am thankful that he was so ; for 
I am convinced that any man with a genius for war 
inferior to that of the illustrious soldier would have 
been a marplot if he had meddled with the matter. 
Grant was willing to take the responsibility ; and doubt- 
less the singular silence of his superior suggested to 
him his fate in case of failure. 

Grant did not wait for any of the additional force 
promised ; and while the solemn autocrat in St. Louis 
was prating about picks and shovels, and matters 
which a volunteer who had seen service for a week 
understood as well as he, the bold brigadier in com- 
mand hurried up Commodore Foote, who was waiting 
for the gunboats he had sent up the river. He was 
impatient to be on the move, and chafed like a 
leashed tiger at the delay ; for the news kept com- 



I4O OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

ing in that the rebels were continually strengthening 
Donelson. 

On the nth the commodore started with his fleet 
for the Cumberland, protecting transports convey- 
ing six regiments of troops and the supplies for the 
entire force. On the same day McClernand, with the 
advance, moved out a few miles towards the point of 
attack. The next morning, Grant himself, with the 
main body of the army, consisting of fifteen thousand 
strong, marched from Fort Henry, leaving twenty-five 
hundred men in garrison there. 

The roads were inundated, and it was impossible to 
transport tents and baggage. But few wagons were 
taken, and the only food carried was in the haversacks 
of the soldiers. In order to understand the difficulties 
in the way of the gallant commander, it should be 
remembered that this movement was made in the 
month of February. The country was flooded with 
water, rendering the roads almost impassable, and 
requiring that many streams should be bridged. But 
without tents or baggage, the confident general moved 
on to do the mighty work before him. At noon he 
arrived at his destination, and proceeded to post his 
troops. Grant's information in regard to the fortress, 
was so meagre and indefinite that he could only 
promise to issue the necessary orders in the field. 
This was the task now before him. 

Fort Donelson was one of the most elaborately con- 
structed systems of works which yet frowned on the 
path of the Union army. It was built on a group 
of hills, the highest of which were not less than a 
hundred feet above the level of the river. It consisted 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 141 

of a nest of forts, thrown around the principal one, 
mounting, with the addition of the field guns of the 
batteries, sixty-five pieces. The country in which it 
was situated was rough, and densely wooded. The 
approaches to the works were rendered difficult by 
ingeniously-contrived abatis. Above and below the 
fort was a stream, overflowing its banks, and protect- 
ing the right and left of the rebel line. Water bat- 
teries on the river effectually guarded the approaches 
in that direction. The fort was garrisoned by twenty- 
one thousand men. For a week the rebels had been 
at work, day and night, increasing its defences, and 
calling in reinforcements from the vicinity. 

Grant went to work with his usual promptness, and 
before night had surrounded the fort, so far as the 
overflow of the streams would permit. McClernand's 
division was on the right, Smith's on the left. There 
were but three educated officers on the field — Grant, 
Smith, and McPherson ; all the rest of the force were 
volunteers, most of whom had never seen a battle, 
and some had been in the service but a very brief 
period. 

The gunboats did not arrive the next day, as ex- 
.pected, but the time was occupied in perfecting the 
investment of the place, and in feeling of the enemy. 
Some smart skirmishes occurred, but nothing of im- 
portance to either side resulted from them. A gallant 
attempt was made by McClernand to capture a battery, 
but it failed. At night Grant's line extended for three 
miles along a series of hills parallel to the enemy's 
line. The reinforcements did not arrive, and Foote's 
squadron was not heard from. The weather changed 



i 



142 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

from heavy rain to intense cold, and the thermometer 
fell nearly to zero. The troops suffered fearfully from 
cold ; for without tents, and without sufficient clothing, 
they bivouacked in line of battle, sleeping, if they 
slept at all, on their arms. The rebel pickets were 
within easy range, and no fires could be built. Some 
of the raw troops had even thrown away their blankets 
in the toilsome march through the mud. Before 
morning a driving storm of hail and snow set in, hor- 
ribly increasing the sufferings of the troops. 

What a terrible price was paid for the integrity of 
this blessed Union ! What an awful sacrifice for the 
liberty in which we now rejoice ! I tremble when I 
think of the horrors of that dreadful night, in the snow, 
and the sleet, and the piercing cold, where the de- 
voted patriots lay under the fire of the enemy ! All 
night long the rebel pickets fired, and the groans of 
the wounded and the dying mingled with the howls 
of the storm. All the horrors of war seemed to be 
blended together in one discordant mass — hunger, 
cold, and all the torturing agony of suspense and 
anxiety. From what I know of Grant, I am sure 
he suffered the most, for the tortures of his men 
were his own ; but peace and freedom were the glit- 
tering prize for which he fought and endured the 
bitter anguish of that horrid night. I wonder that 
even his iron will did not yield in the presence of 
the calamities which were there heaped upon him 
and his men ; for he endured all that the humblest 
soldier endured. Besides the burden they had to 
bear, he carried the responsibility of the enterprise 
upon his shoulders ; but he was as confident as he 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 143 

was patient and self-sacrificing. For the glorious 
cause in which he had embarked, he endured all 
which that awful period had in store for him. 

Glory, honor, and an immortal name to the man 
who had the fortitude to endure the horrors of that 
terrible night! I am amazed as I view him, the 
thinking power of the expedition, resolutely main- 
taining his bold front through the accumulated mis- 
eries of that gloomy trial-hour ! Think of the man who 
had the hardihood to beleaguer a fortress garrisoned by 
twenty-one thousand men with fifteen thousand, and 
to stand by them confidently through such a storm 
and such a night ! It was watching and waiting for 
the morning. Conscious of his comparative weak- 
ness, Grant sent a messenger to Fort Henry for the 
garrison which had been left there. 

In the gloom of the early morning came glad tidings 
to the anxious commander, and to his suffering force. 
A gunboat was coming up the river, and its presence 
heralded the approach of the fleet, with reinforce- 
ments and with supplies for the half-famished men in 
the line. Though abundant rations had been issued 
to the troops, they were improvident, in their inexperi- 
ence, both of food and clothing. The warm, humid 
air of the preceding day had been oppressive to them, 
and they had lightened their burden, reckless of the 
future. The sudden change of the weather and the 
delay of the fleet subjected them to terrible hardship. 
Many of the wounded and others were frozen to death 
in the line. 

General Lew Wallace and the garrison from 
Fort Henry, arrived, and were immediately placed 






144 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

in the centre of the line of investment. The trans- 
ports came up to a point three miles below the fort, 
landed their troops, who were added to the line en- 
circling the fort, increasing the besieging force to 
twenty-two thousand. Daring the entire day, an 
irregular fire of sharp-shooters was kept up by the 
rebels, and at times the artillery played briskly upon 
the national lines. This was on the second day of 
the siege, Friday, the 14th of February. 

Early in the afternoon, six gunboats, only four of 
which were protected by armor, opened fire upon the 
fort, and continued to pour in shot and shell for an 
hour and a half. The water batteries had the advan- 
tage of a high position in this conflict, which enabled 
them to throw plunging shot at the gunboats. Com- 
modore Foote was severely wounded, fifty-four of his 
men killed or wounded, two of his craft disabled, and 
the others crippled by the vigorous fire of the rebels. 
Twenty guns had acted upon the little squadron, 
which could use only twelve in reply. Two of the 
iron-clads were drifting helplessly down the river, and 
the others were so disabled that it was impossible to 
continue the action any longer. Sorely against his 
will, the gallant commodore was compelled to with- 
draw from the unequal contest. It was Grant's plan 
to take the fort by storm on the land side, as soon as 
the result of the naval combat warranted the step. 
As it failed, he was obliged to remain inactive. He 
feared to attempt to tarry the place by assault with 
untrained troops, but he did not for a moment lose his 
confidence in the ultimate result. 

Another night of freezing cold succeeded, and the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 45 

snow and the sleet, in unison with the rebel guns, 
pelted the patriot host. The sufferings of the pre- 
ceding night were repeated, and increased by the 
weakened condition of the men. Grant felt for his 
suffering troops, but he seemed to be insensible to cold 
and fatigue himself, even after the long-continued 
strain of ceaseless action and sleepless nights upon 
his frame. At two o'clock on the morning of Satur- 
day he received a note from Commodore Foote, who 
was disabled by his wound, soliciting an interview 
with him on board of the flag-ship. Before daylight 
Grant visited the St. Louis, and the flag-officer in- 
formed him that he should be compelled to return to 
Cairo and refit his squadron, and suggested that Grant 
should hold his line until the gunboats could return 
to his assistance. 

While this conference was in progress on board of 
the St. Louis, the rebels massed their troops at the 
right of the Union line, and made a tremendous sally 
upon the besiegers. The soldiers fought like tigers 
for hours in this unequal- strife. All of McClernand's 
division was hotly engaged. A brigade which had 
been posted on the extreme right, after bravely hold- 
ing its ground against overwhelming odds, fell back 
after suffering terribly. McClernand, sorely pressed, 
was hardly holding his ground, and sent to Wallace 
in the centre for aid. Messengers were hurried to the 
headquarters of General Grant, but he was still on 
board of the flag-ship. Wallace was afraid to weaken 
the centre without orders from his chief; but at last, 
when McClernand declared that his flank was turned, 
and his whole division in peril of being cut to pieces, 
10 



I46 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

he marched to his assistance, drove back the rebels, 
and changed the fortunes of the day. 

In his turn Wallace charged upon the rebel line ; 
but he also was forced back, and it seemed as though 
the enemy had massed nearly his whole force on his 
left. The fighting was of the most determined and 
desperate character, but no decided result to either 
side ensued. The rebels were endeavoring to force 
their way through the Union line, but they were de- 
feated in their purpose, and the national troops still 
held their position. 

About nine o'clock, as Grant was returning from 
his anxious conference with the naval commander, an 
aid gave him his first information of the furious assault 
which had been made upon his line. Learning from 
General Smith — who was in command of the left, 
and had not been engaged — the situation on the right, 
he ordered him to make instant preparations for an 
assault with his whole force. Sudden and startling 
as the intelligence was to him, he was ready for the 
emergency, and before he had visited the scene of 
action his plan was formed. His splendid genius 
fathomed the truth, and he was prompt in his remedy. 
Where other commanders in that trying moment 
would have summoned a council of war, he stood 
boldly up and confronted the difficulty alone. The 
gunboats had foiled him, and there was no hope but 
in the army. 

Leaving Smith, he dashed on to the scene of the 
severest conflict. The rebels, disappointed in their 
attempt to break the Union line, were slowly retiring. 
The prospect there was disheartening in the extreme. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT 1 47 

The raw troops, bravely as they had fought, were in 
disorder. The heavy loss of officers was severely felt, 
and confusion reigned in the ranks. The men were 
discouraged, and, in a measure, demoralized. It was 
Grant's mission to inspire them anew, and to bring 
order out of confusion. It was reported to him that 
the rebels had come out with knapsacks and haver- 
sacks to continue the battle for an indefinite period. 

" Are the haversacks filled ? " asked Grant ; and, 
upon examination of some of the prisoners who had 
been taken, it was found that they were supplied with 
rations for three days. " They mean to cut their way 
out," added Grant, "and have no idea of staying 
here to fight us. Whichever party attacks first now 
will whip, and the rebels will have to be very quick 
if they beat us." 

Thus Grant rose above the presages of evil which 
surrounded him, and thus breathed new confidence 
into the sinking hearts of his troops. Thus he put 
far from him the evil omens of the hour, and, by his 
vigorous measures and his personal presence, pre- 
pared to turn the discouraging circumstances which 
environed him into the channel of victory. 

The rebels appear to have comprehended the situa- 
tion in front of them ; for Pillow was so confident they 
had cut a path through the national line, that he tele- 
graphed to Nashville, " On the honor of a soldier, the 
day is ours." He did not know what manner of man 
he was who commanded the national forces. 



I4S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustri- 
ous Soldier to the Victory at Fort Donclso?i, and 
points out the Nature and Extent of that splen- 
did Achievement. 

GENERAL GRANT, having reassured his men 
on the right, dashed off to the left again, where 
Smith and his fresh troops were preparing for the 
assault. On their way he and his staff gladdened 
the hearts of the soldiers by declaring that the attempt 
of the rebels in the morning was not an ordinary 
sally ; that they were becoming desperate, and de- 
sired only to cut their way through the line to a 
place of safety. At this stage of the battle, when a 
portion of the army was discouraged and disheartened, 
this was certainly a bold assumption, but it had an 
inspiring effect upon the men ; they re-formed their 
lines, and moved towards the front. 

In the midst of these preparations Grant sent a 
request to Commodore Foote to have all his gunboats 
appear before the enemy, declaring that a terrible 
conflict during his absence had demoralized a portion 
of his command. He added that, if the gunboats did 
not appear, *' j fact would encourage the enemy, and 
still further dishearten his own troops, and that he 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



49 



was obliged to order a charge " to save appearances." 
The naval commander complied with the request so 
far as he was able, and sent two of his squadrons up 
the river, where they demonstrated a little at long 
range. 

McClernand and Wallace were directed to renew 
the attack on the right as soon as Smith charged upon 
the left. The latter, who had been accused of seces- 
sion tendencies during his temporary unpopularity at 
Paducah, had now an opportunity to set himself right 
before the country, and to overwhelm his defamers. 
He formed his line, and made one of the most impet- 
uous and gallant charges recorded during the war. 
In front of him the rebel right had been reduced in 
force to mass the troops for the assault in the morning, 
and before the equilibrium could be restored, Smith 
forced the enemy's line, and, in the face of a galling 
and destructive fire, made his way up the hill, over 
the intrenchments, gaining full possession of the key 
to the fort. 

On the right the troops of McClernand and Wal- 
lace, in spite of what they had suffered in the morn- 
ing, behaved handsomely, and drove the rebels from 
the ground in front of them, regaining the guns which 
they had lost in the morning. But the greatest ad- 
vantage derived from their heroic conduct was in 
keeping the enemy engaged, and thus preventing 
them from reenforcing their right, where Smith was 
working out the real solution of the problem of cap- 
turing the fort. 

Night closed upon the hard-fought battle-field be- 
fore the day was won ; but the advantage was clearly 



150 OUR STANDARD-BEARER. OR 

and decidedly with the national troops. Smith still 
held the position he had won, and another half hour 
of daylight would have enabled him to carry the en- 
tire works. Asrain the suffering: soldiers bivouacked on 
the frozen ground, which they had so gallantly won 
from the enemy, spending the night in sleepless anx- 
iety, for the desperate fortunes of the foe tempted him 
to reckless expedients. But the light of a brilliant 
victory was beginning to dawn upon them, and 
hope rendered the hours less heavy, the cold and 
weariness more endurable. Grant, who had watched 
and waited through the long hours of the preceding 
night, without a moment of rest, and who, by night 
and by day, had been straining every nerve for a fort- 
night, slept a few hours in a negro cabin on the field, 
but ready at any instant to answer the summons to 
battle. 

Within the rebel camp the results of the day's opera- 
tions had carried dismay and despair. Floyd, who 
was the chief in command, called together his officers 
for consultation. It was agreed that the situation was 
hopeless, and that escape or surrender was the only 
alternative. They discussed the feasibility of cutting 
their way out of the fort ; but, as such a reckless 
movement would involve the loss of three fourths of 
the command, the more humane and prudent of this 
remarkable conclave decided that it should not be 
undertaken. The other alternative was surrender ; 
but Floyd, who had stolen the public property while 
holding his position of trust under the United States 
government, and dreaded a halter if captured, de- 
clined in his own person to be given up. He declared 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 151 

his intention to escape with the Virginia troops he 
had brought with him, and he turned over the com- 
mand to Pillow, the next in rank. This gentleman 
decided to imitate the example of Floyd, and passed 
it along to Buckner. They had solved the problem 
to their own satisfaction, the two highest in command 
deserting their troops, and escaping by a steamer up 
the river. Nothing better could have been expected 
of Floyd, or even of Pillow, and both of them were 
consistent with their treacherous natures. Buckner 
was a gentleman and a soldier. After bravely defend- 
ing his position to the best of his ability, he was obliged 
to surrender, and he performed the disagreeable duty 
like a man. 

Buckner immediately sent a messenger to Grant, 
asking for terms of surrender ; but, while the negotia- 
tion was in progress, he permitted Floyd and Pillow to 
sneak oft' with about three thousand of the troops, amid 
the execrations of those who remained. Grant was 
ready to renew the conflict when the white flag was 
raised on the battlements of the fort. Buckner pro- 
posed an armistice till noon, which seemed to suggest 
a very complicated arrangement of details in regard 
to terms. In reply, Grant wrote a very brief note, 
acknowledging the receipt of the rebel general's com- 
munication, and adding, " No terms except uncondi- 
tional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I 
propose to move immediately upon your works." 

If General Buckner had never been formally intro- 
duced to General Grant, this little note would have been 
a full-length photograph of the man. The unfortunate 
rebel replied, accepting the terms, though not without 



I52 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

taking occasion to protest against them as ungenerous 
and unchivalrous, and to remind the conqueror of 
" the brilliant success of the Confederate arms yester- 
day." Grant, with a generous regard for the feelings 
of Buckner, hastened to the headquarters of the latter, 
at Dover. The two generals had been companions at 
West Point and in the old army, and Grant displayed 
a tenderness for the sensitive nature of the defeated 
soldier which is highly creditable to him. He as- 
sured him he did not wish to subject him to any un- 
necessary mortification, but while all public property 
must be yielded up, the officers would be permitted to 
retain their side arms and their personal property. 

They breakfasted together and talked over the affair, 
thus happily ended for one, thus disastrously ended 
for the other. During the interview which followed, 
Buckner alluded to the inferior force of his adversary 
at the commencement of the siege. 

" If I had been in command, you wouldn't have 
reached Fort Donelson so easily," said he, with a 
natural desire to explain the cause of his misfortune. 

" If you had been in command, I should have 
waited for reinforcements, and marched from Fort 
Henry in greater strength ; for I knew that Pillow 
would not come out of his works to fight, and I told 
my staff so, though I believed he would fight behind 
his works." 

Grant knew not only the men upon his own side, 
but those on the other. He weighed and measured 
both Floyd and Pillow, and made his calculations 
accordingly. He did nothing in the dark, bold and 
daring as his movements were. He read human 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 53 

character with almost infallible accuracy, and it ap- 
pears that his splendid victory at Donelson was 
gained as much by his knowledge of the men whom 
he had to fight, as by his sudden and wonderful seiz- 
ing of an advantage. He knew nothing of the obsti- 
nate battle which had been fought while he was on 
board of the gunboat, until he was informed of the 
fact after he came on shore. On the instant he ordered 
Smith to prepare for an assault. He saw the weak 
point of the enemy, as well as the disordered state of 
his own right. Here was his stroke of genius. In 
that he conquered, for the assault he ordered on the 
moment gave Smith the key to the fortress. 

In this tremendous battle he exhibited the highest 
qualities of a man and a soldier, and showed that he 
was equal to any position to which he might be as- 
signed. When the news of the fall of Fort Donelson 
reached Washington, Secretary Stanton immediately 
recommended Grant's promotion to the rank of major- 
general of volunteers. President Lincoln nominated 
him to the Senate on the same day, and he was in- 
stantly confirmed. The secretary of war seized 
eagerly upon the brilliant qualities of the man who 
had worked out this victory, and held him up to the 
admiration of the country, as he deserve^ to be held 
up, adding that " the true organization of victory, and 
military combination to end this war, were declared in 
a few words by General Grant's message to General 
Buckner : '/" propose to move immediately on your 
works.' " And the noble secretary clung to the suc- 
cessful general during the rest of the war. 

Sixty-five guns and fifteen thousand prisoners were 



154 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the spoils of war to the victor at Fort Donelson — a 
whole army of captives, such as the North had not 
known before. On the last day of the fight, Grant 
had twenty -seven thousand men, and the rebels had 
above twenty-one thousand, so that the disparity in 
numbers between the combatants was by no means 
so great as that in position, which favored the 
rebels. 

As the steamers with the rebel prisoners were about 
to start for the Ohio River, Buckner, who was very 
proud of his soldiers, asked Grant to go and see his 
own brigade. The victorious general accepted the 
invitation, and the prisoners crowded around him, 
respectfully but curiously anxious to see their captor. 
Buckner informed them that Grant had treated them 
very handsomely, and begged them, if ever the for- 
tunes of war reversed the circumstances, to treat him, 
or any of his troops, as kindly and magnanimously as 
he had used them. Grant has a large heart, which I 
have several times before indicated in mentioning his 
relations with his friends and benefactors. It is de- 
monstrated even more forcibly in his generous conduct 
to his enemies, or, rather, the enemies of the loyal 
cause ; for until envy and jealousy developed them, it 
does not appear that he had any others. 

The country rang with Grant's praise. A new light 
had loomed up in the firmament of the war, and 
people hailed the glorious star. His initials now 
meant "Unconditional Surrender" — the only terms 
which he could offer to men in arms against their 
own country. The victory at Donelson was the most 
important and the most suggestive one which had yet 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 155 

gladdened the loyal heart. It was regarded as the 
beginning of a new order of things; and well do I. 
remember the confident prediction of one who 
weighed Grant well, that he would yet be President 
of the United States. 

General Halleck appears to have been a stumbling- 
block in the path of both Grant and Sherman. There 
was a dirty vein in his nature, which contrasts strongly 
with the generosity and magnanimity of the hero of 
Fort Donelson. While McCullum, Halleck's chief 
of staff, congratulated him upon the splendid result 
of his " brilliant leadership," and others high in com- 
mand followed his example, Halleck himself sent no 
letter of commendation to the conqueror, but tele- 
graphed to Washington that " Smith, by his coolness 
and bravery, when the battle was against us, turned 
the tide and carried the enemy's outworks. Make 
him a major-general. You can't get a better one. 
Honor him for this victory, and the whole country 
will applaud." Thus said Halleck. 

Buckner congratulated Smith on his gallant charge, 
after the surrender "Yes, it was well done," he 
replied, " considering the smallness of the force that 
did it. No congratulations are due to me. I simply 
obeyed orders." Thus said Smith himself, with the 
ring of honor which swells the heart of a true soldier. 
The government practically decided that the victory 
belonged to General Ulysses S. Grant. He was 
promptly confirmed as a major-general, and " the 
whole country applauded." 

While the people rapturously shouted forth their 
joy at the signal success of our arms at Forts Henry 



156 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

and Donelson, they hardly comprehended the magni- 
ficent results of these victories. The strong positions 
of the rebels at Bowling Green and Columbus were 
flanked, and the enemy were compelled to evacuate 
them. The Gibraltar of the West, strengthened with 
so much labor and expense, could no longer be held, 
and its garrison was transferred to Island No. 10, down 
the river, leaving the Mississippi open to the northern 
line of Arkansas. The Tennessee and Cumberland 
rivers were also open, and the dreaded gunboats pen- 
etrated to the interior of the Confederacy. Nashville 
fell, and was speedily occupied by the national troops, 
while the rebel armies and the rebel legislature fled 
to safer localities. 

At this period in Grant's eventful history, while he 
was beating down the rebel stronghold, General Wil- 
liam T. Sherman stepped prominently upon the stage. 
He had rendered efficient service to Grant, as a sub- 
ordinate of Halleck, in urging forward reinforcements, 
and after the victory warmly congratulated him. 
Grant replied in a feeling letter, in which he made 
use of this sentence, so characteristic of the man's 
motives: "/ care nothing for froinotion so long as 
our arms are successful, and no political appoint- 
ments are made." They had been together one year 
at West Point, Sherman being graduated three years 
earlier than Grant ; but in their mutual sympathy, 
appreciation, and kindness at this trying period of the 
war, really commenced the friendship of these two 
remarkable men. Before any brilliant lustre had been 
shed upon the name of either, they were united by a 
bond which no circumstances could weaken, and by 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 157 

an association so intimate and tender as to become the 
solace of each in the hour of adversity. It was cer- 
tainly a poetical friendship, faithful and genuine, by 
which the nation, as well as the individuals them- 
selves, have been benefited. 



158 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustri- 
ous Soldier through the Period of his temporary 
Disgrace and triumphant Vindication to the open- 
ing scenes at Shiloh. 

THE great strategic line of the rebels in the West 
had been broken ; all its strong places had been 
taken or evacuated ; and the network of railroads in 
Kentucky and Tennessee was in possession of the 
national troops. The new line of defence was along 
the railroad extending from Memphis on the Missis- 
sippi to Charleston on the Atlantic. As the rebels 
had fought for Nashville at Fort Donelson, and lost 
it, so they indicated their intention to light for Mem- 
phis at Island No. 10. 

It was of the utmost importance to the Confederacy 
that the new line of defence should be held, in order 
to control one of the principal means of communica- 
tion with the Atlantic States, by which the army and 
the people were to be supplied with food. This line in- 
cluded several important railway junctions, from which 
roads extended down to New Orleans and Mobile. 
From Chattanooga a road passed through Eastern 
Tennessee, then in possession of the rebels, to Vir- 
ginia, being the most direct route to Richmond ; and 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 59 

another went to Atlanta, where lines diverged to the 
east, west, and south, by which all the southern and 
eastern cities of the Confederacy were reached. 

The new defensive line was established, and 
strengthened with all the men and material which 
the resources of the Confederacy would admit. The 
ablest and most experienced generals in its service 
were sent to the command of the rebel armies there. 
The presence of both Albert Sidney Johnston and 
Beauregard attested the importance with which the 
rebel leaders regarded this line ; for, driven from it, 
another move to the south would drive them down 
to within two hundred miles of the Gulf of Mexico. 
This line had now become the objective point of the 
Union generals in the West. 

On the day following the surrender of Fort Donel- 
son, General Grant issued his first order, taking com- 
mand of the new military district of West Tennessee, 
whose limits, however, were not defined in his ap- 
pointment by General Halleck. General Smith, 
whom Grant still regarded as his " right-hand man," 
and whom he had already strongly recommended for 
promotion to the rank of major general, was sent fifty 
miles up the Cumberland, to occupy Clarksville. The 
timid counsels of Halleck restrained and annoyed 
the commander of the new district. His superior was 
constantly prating about the risk of a general battle, 
and urging extreme caution. 

General Buell, in command of the Department of 
the Ohio, who had occupied Bowling Green, now 
moved forward and occupied Nashville. As Grant's 
district limits had not been defined, he visited Nash- 



l6o OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

ville for the purpose of consulting Buell in regard to 
this subject and the disposition of the troops of the 
two armies. 

In the mean time, by the order of General Halleck, 
Grant was engaged in organizing an expedition to go 
up the Tennessee River, to attack the rebel line of de- 
fence, and cut the communications at Corinth, Missis- 
sippi — the junction of the Mobile and Ohio with the 
Memphis and Charleston Railroads. While these 
preparations were in progress, Halleck sent a growl- 
ing complaint to Washington, which I cannot help 
transcribing here, though more to show the excel- 
lent spirit of Grant under the most terrible provoca- 
tion, than to exhibit the littleness of Halleck : — 

" I have had no communication with General Grant 
for more than a week. He left his command without 
my authority, and went to Nashville. His army 
seems to be as much demoralized by the victory of 
Fort Donelson as was that of the Potomac by the 
defeat of Bull Run. It is hard to censure a successful 
general immediately after a victory ; but I think he 
richly deserves it. I can get no returns, no reports, 
no information of any kind from him. Satisfied with 
his victory, he sits down and enjoys it without any 
regard to the future. I am worn out and tired by this 
neglect and inefficiency. C. F. Smith is almost the 
only officer equal to the emergency." 

Grant seems to have been better satisfied with his 
victory than Halleck was. 

Up to this time Grant had not received even a hint 
that his conduct was not approved by his superior, 
and it is doubtful whether Halleck meant that he 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. l6l 

should know it until the crushing blow fell upon the 
head of the conqueror. His significant mention of 
General Smith in his snarling, ill-natured communica- 
tion to the general-in-chief at Washington sufficient- 
ly indicates his purpose. The next day Grant was 
ordered to place Major General Smith in command 
of the Tennessee expedition, and remain at Fort Hen- 
ry himself. He was shelved, and in disgrace ! With 
this order came the first indication he had received of 
the cause of his superior's displeasure. " Why do 
you not obey my orders to report strength and posi- 
tion of your command ? " was the snapper at the end 
of the despatch. 

Grant replied that the order should be obeyed ; that 
he was not aware of having ever disobeyed an order 
from Halleck's headquarters. He had certainly never 
intended such a thing. He had reported almost daily 
the condition and position of his troops. In conclu- 
sion, he declared that he would carry out all instruc- 
tions to the extent of his ability. 

To this Halleck replied, repeating some of the 
allegations of his letter to the general-in-chief, declar- 
ing that his going to Nashville was a matter of very 
serious complaint at Washington, and that he was 
advised to arrest Grant on his return ! The hero 
defended himself from the charges, showing conclu- 
sively that he had performed his whole duty. He 
stated that he had done all he could to get returns of 
the strength of his command ; that every move was 
reported daily to the chief of staff' at St. Louis ; that he 
had averaged more than one letter a day since he left 
Cairo ; and that his visit to Nashville was solely for 
ii 



1 62 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the good of the service, not to gratify any desire of his 
own. " I have done my very best to obey orders, and 
to carry out the interests of the service," he wrote. 
" If my course is not satisfactory, remove me at once. 
I do not wish in any way to impede the success of 
ozcr arms" In conclusion, he asked to be relieved 
from further duty in the department. 

Halleck continued to pour in repeated rebukes and 
censures, and Grant reiterated his application to be 
relieved. Among other things, he alleged that Grant 
had permitted marauding, in violation of the orders 
issued to prevent such irregularities. The general 
replied by referring his superior to his own orders to 
suppress marauding, and by pointing out to him the 
fact that he had arrested and sent to St. Louis several 
officers for the offence indicated. 

Grant was under a shadow, so far as his military 
superiors were concerned, though the people knew 
very little about the difficulty at the time. He was in 
disgrace. The man whom the loyal nation was laud- 
ing to the skies was actually tottering beneath the dis- 
approbation of his commanding officer. Halleck had 
based a portion of his severe censure upon an anony- 
mous letter ! He appears to have been too willing to 
take up a cause of complaint, though Grant had bitter 
enemies in those who were jealous of his rising fame. 
It appears almost incredible that Halleck, at such a 
time, when the hero's name was on every tongue, 
should have preferred his severe charges and uttered 
his galling reflections to the authorities at Washing- 
ton, without having previously investigated them, or 
even intimating to the subject of his displeasure that 
he was suspected of misconduct. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 63 

It looks as though Halleck, after the strong repre- 
sentations — or, rather, misrepresentations — he had 
made to Washington, expected a peremptory order 
to remove Grant, and appoint Smith in his place. It 
seems, if this was his desire and anticipation, that he 
had been reckoning without his host. Perhaps, if he 
had not been a timid man, he would have done the 
foul deed himself. Instead of the order wished for 
came one of a different sort : — 

" Headquarters of the Army, ) 
Adjutant General's Office, > 
Washington, March 10, 1862. J 
"Major General H. W. Halleck, U. S. A., 

Commanding Departinent of the Mississippi : 
" It has been reported that soon after the battle of 
Fort Donelson, Brigadier General Grant left his com- 
mand without leave. By direction of the president, 
the secretary of war directs you to ascertain and re- 
port whether General Grant left his command at any 
time without proper authority, and if so, for how 
long ; whether he has made to you proper reports 
and returns of his forces ; whether he has committed 
any acts which were unauthorized, or not in accord- 
ance with military subordination or propriety, and if 
so, what. 

L. Thomas, Adjutant General" 

It was evident that before Grant could be sent into 
obscurity, even for a time, a searching investigation 
into the conduct of the culprit was to be had. The 
president and the secretary of war weie not willing 



164 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

blindly to consign the hero of Fort Donelson to oblo- 
quy and disgrace. Mr. Stanton only a few days before 
had thrillingly defined the " organization of victory," 
as set forth in the words of Grant ; and he was not 
prepared to have the author of that electric sentence 
shoved out of the line of attack. He insisted upon 
knowing what wicked deeds Grant had done, and 
Halleck had permission only to " ascertain and report." 
He did " ascertain ; " but as only five days intervene 
between the date of the order and that of his reply, it 
is not probable that he found it necessary to push his 
inquiries to any great extent. He did " report," as 
follows : — 

" Headquarters, Department of the Mississippi, > 
St. Louis, March 15, 1S62. 5 

" Brigadier General L. Thomas, 

Adjutant General of the Army, Washington : 
" In accordance w T ith your instructions of the 10th 
inst., I report that General Grant and several officers 
of high rank in his command, immediately after the 
battle of Fort Donelson, went to Nashville without 
my authority or knowledge. I am satisfied, however, 
from investigation, that General Grant did this from 
good intentions, and from a desire to subserve the 
public interests. Not being advised of General Bucll's 
movements, and learning that General Buell had or- 
dered Smith's division of his (Grant's) command to 
go to Nashville, he deemed it his duty to go there in 
person. During the absence of General Grant and a 
part of his general officers, numerous irregularities 
are said to have occurred at Fort Donelson. These 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 65 

were in violation of the orders issued by General 
Grant before leaving, and probably, under the cir- 
cumstances, were unavoidable. General Grant has 
made the proper explanations, and has been directed 
to resume his command in the field ; as he acted from 
a praiseworthy although mistaken zeal for the public 
service in going to Nashville and leaving his com- 
mand, I respectfully recommend that no further notice 
be taken of it. There never has been any want of 
military subordination on the part of General Grant, 
and his failure to make returns of his forces has 
been explained, as resulting partly from the failure of 
colonels of regiments to report to him on their arrival, 
and partly from an interruption of telegraphic com- 
munication. All these irregularities have now been 
remedied. 

H. W. Halleck, Major General." 

But it did not take even five days for Halleck to 
arrive at the conclusions set forth in this letter ; for 
two days before its date he declined to relieve Grant 
from his command. " Instead of relieving you," he 
said, " I wish you, as soon as your new army is in 
the field, to assume the immediate command, and lead 
it on to new victories." He seems to have discovered, 
rather late in the day, that General Smith was not 
" almost the only man equal to the emergency." 

During this unpleasant period, while he was in dis- 
grace at Fort Henry, Grant conducted himself with 
signal prudence and discretion. He was patient and 
submissive to authority. His replies, though some- 
times sharp and strong, are always dignified and 



1 66 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

manly. He was even willing to be sacrificed for the 
good of the cause ; and, while acting as a sort of 
adjutant general to his own subordinate in rank, he 
labored diligently in forwarding the preparations for 
the expedition up the river. Though he had been 
virtually superseded by Smith, he congratulated that 
officer upon his richly-deserved promotion, offering 
him every assistance in his power — conduct in strong 
contrast with that of others under analogous circum- 
stances. 

General Smith was the commandant at West Point 
while Grant was a cadet in that institution. The for- 
mer pupif had felt a peculiar awe for his old com- 
mander, and acknowledged how unpleasant it was to 
give him an order. But Smith, perceiving the embar- 
rassment of his superior, explained his position with 
becoming delicacy. " I am a subordinate now, and I 
know a soldier's duty. I hope you will feel no awk- 
wardness about our new relations." Grant never had 
a more gallant or a more obedient officer, though he 
was sixty years of age. The exposure he underwent 
at Donelson brought on the dysentery, and he died at 
the camp up the river. 

While Grant was under the shadow of Halleck's 
mighty displeasure, Smith had gone up the river, and 
taken a position at Pittsburg Landing, only twenty 
miles from Corinth, where the railroad from Mobile 
connected with the Memphis and Charleston line. 
Grant hastened to this place, and assumed the com- 
mand of the forces. Injustice and petty tyranny had 
not goaded him to a single act of disobedience, or 
tempted him to lay aside the noble dignity of his bear- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. CHANT. 1 67 

ing. He had conquered in the moral battle which lie 
fought with envy and malice, and returned to his com- 
mand with the laurel of this victory on his brow. 

I see him now, dignified, but not triumphant, in his 
mien, manly and resolute as ever, but with no tinge 
of vanity in his looks, his words, or his manners. I 
see him now, as he received the hearty congratulations 
of the true and trusty soldiers who were too noble to 
be envious. He had endured a bitter trial, and the 
sympathy of a true friend, like Sherman, was sweet 
to him. But not long could such a man as Grant 
dally with private griefs or private joys. The cause 
he loved was still in peril. The rebels were straining 
every nerve to counteract the operations of the national 
army. At Corinth they were gathering an overwhelm- 
ing force to crush the army at Pittsburg Landing, and 
the restored commander could not waste a moment. 
Promptly he examined into the condition of his forces, 
and within an hour after his arrival he issued orders 
for their immediate concentration, for they were scat- 
tered about at several localities in the vicinity. 

Grant, though relieved from disgrace, was still teth- 
ered by the will of his tyrant at St. Louis, who con- 
tinually hampered him with instructions and prohibi- 
tions. His hands were tied ; he was only a second in 
command. He was forbidden to do anything which 
should bring on a general battle, and was required 
merely to stand on the defensive. Though he was 
too good a soldier to disobey his orders, either in the 
letter or in the spirit, he chafed under the restraint. 
He had views of his own which he desired to carry 
out. Every day the strength of the enemy at Corinth 



l68 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

was increasing, and Grant was not permitted to do 
anything until the arrival of Buell, who was leisurely 
marching in that direction with forty thousand men. 

Grant arrived at Pittsburg Landing March 17; but 
he established his headquarters at Savannah, nine 
miles below, in order to superintend the organization 
of troops arriving from Missouri, and because this 
point was more convenient for him to communicate 
with Buell. He visited the army daily, and kept him- 
self thoroughly acquainted with all the details of the 
camp. But a question of rank having been raised at 
the front, he decided, two days before the great battle, 
to remove his headquarters to Pittsburg Landing, in 
order to obviate the difficulty. As he was about to 
carry out his purpose, he received a message from 
Buell, requesting him to remain at Savannah, where 
he should arrive on the following day, April 4. It 
was of the utmost consequence that he should see the 
commander of the army of the Cumberland at the 
earliest possible moment, for there had been frequent 
skirmishes along the line, and the period of actual 
operations could not be much longer delayed, even to 
please the autocrat at St. Louis. 

Grant, having made his arrangements to meet Buell 
at Savannah on the 6th of April, went up to the camp. 
He rode to the front with Sherman, and both of them 
agreed that there was no danger of an immediate 
attack, though there had been a heavy reconnoissance 
by the enemy. As Grant was riding back to the Land- 
ing, his horse stumbled and fell, throwing his rider 
beneath him, and severely injuring him. He suffered 
great pain for several days, and was partially disabled 
for a week. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 169 

On Saturday, April 5, the cavalry of the rebels 
was very bold, but still it was not believed that a 
battle was imminent. The advance of Buell's army, 
in command of Nelson, arrived at Savannah on this 
day, and was sent up the river by General Grant, to 
a position five miles from Pittsburg Landing, on the 
other side of the Tennessee, in readiness to reenforce 
the army at the front. Grant was all ready to go to 
the scene of the expected battle, and only waited to 
keep his engagement with Buell. 



170 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Wherein Captain Gall igas ken views the illustrious 
Soldier in tJie Battle of Shiloh, and corrects some 
popular Errors in regard to that savage Fight. 

IN approaching the battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg 
Landing, I find myself coming to a point which 
envy, jealousy, and misrepresentation have battered 
against with the utmost fury. No action of the war 
has been so little understood, none so grossly misstated, 
none so thoroughly and maliciously criticised. It was 
one of the severest, if not the severest conflict of the 
whole war ; but more doubt and uncertainty seem to 
hang over it than over any other event connected with 
the history of the national arms during the rebellion. 
There is no good reason that its facts should be so 
grossly perverted, nor that any of its details should be 
concealed, or apologized for. 

Viewing General Grant as the central figure in this 
tremendous conflict, every word he spoke was the 
right word, every movement he made was the right 
one. I find nothing in his conduct that needs to be 
excused, nothing to be explained, and nothing to be 
undone. As in every other battle of the war in which 
he was engaged, he was heroic, self-possessed, skilful, 
and, by his personal influence and exertions, saved the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 171 

hard-fought field on the first day. I do not mean to 
say that no mistakes were made ; only that Grant did 
not make them. It is one of his crowning triumphs 
that he counteracted the errors of others, that he saved 
the army from the full consequences of the blunders, 
disobedience, and tardiness of subordinates, and of 
the partial demoralization among the raw troops. 
I am only surprised that we were not overwhelmed 
and driven into the Tennessee, instead of holding the 
ground at the end of that awful fight, which began at 
daylight and continued until night. 

The national troops were posted on a line three 
miles in length, extending from a creek on the right 
to another on the left, each of which had overflowed 
its banks and effectually protected the flanks of the 
army. The Union troops numbered at the beginning 
of the battle thirty-three thousand men. At Crump's 
Landing, four miles distant, was General Lew Wal- 
lace's division of five thousand more. 

The rebel troops were reported by Beauregard to be 
over forty thousand ; but there were some discrepancies 
in his statements which render it probable that he 
magnified the results of the first day by understating 
his force. The forward movement of the Union army 
into the first heart of the Confederacy had startled the 
rebel leaders, and they had decided to make a gigantic 
effort to overwhelm the daring invaders. For this 
purpose General A. S.Johnston, the most accomplished 
soldier in the enemy's ranks, was sent to the scene of 
operations, with the most reliable troops in their army. 
Beauregard, who, in spite of his sensational style, was 
a very able soldier, whose name carried a prestige no 



I7 2 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

other rebel chief had won, was the leading spirit of 
the battle, while Hardee, Bragg, and Polk, all educated 
military men, were in command of divisions. On the 
other side, only Grant and Sherman were trained 
soldiers. 

The Confederacy was smarting under its over- 
whelming defeat at Donelson. The boasted superi- 
ority of Southern soldiers had been disproved, and, in 
addition to the necessity of saving the rebel cause from 
the disaster of having its railway communications 
severed, lost honor and lost prestige were to be re- 
covered. Never was an army more thoroughly stimu- 
lated to valor and desperation than that which was 
hurled upon the national lines at Pittsburg Landing. 
A stirring appeal had been issued by General John- 
ston, in which he inflamed the zeal of the soldiers to 
the highest pitch, pointing out to them the bitter re- 
sults of defeat, all of which were fully realized in the 
ultimate issue. Everything which could rouse the 
men to desperation in the approaching fight was done 
with unsparing energy. Thus goaded to madness by 
the hopes and fears of the future, the confident army 
of the Mississippi marched out of Corinth, under 
Johnston, three days before the great battle. 

The Union generals were on the alert, and during 
the three days that the armies confronted each other 
there was much heavy skirmishing. On the morning 
of Sunday, the first day of the battle, Prentiss, in the 
centre of the line, sent out a regiment at three o'clock 
to reconnoitre the position of the enemy. He had 
doubled his pickets on Saturday, thus carefully guard- 
ing himself against the possibility of a surprise. On 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 73 

Friday, the day on which he was injured by the fall 
of his horse, Grant was at the front with Sherman, to 
make sure that every preparation had been made to 
receive a sudden attack, though none was yet ex- 
pected. 

At five o'clock in the morning the regiment Prentiss 
had sent out engaged the advance pickets of the rebels, 
which Beauregard declares was the commencement 
of the fight, when Johnston gave orders to begin the 
movement. My excellent friend Mr. Pollard, in 
" The Lost Cause," says, " The magnificent army was 
moving forward to the deadly conflict ; but the enemy " 
— the national troops — "scarcely gave time to dis- 
cuss the question of attack, for soon after dawn he 
commenced a rapid fire on the Confederate pickets." 

Some envious, hypercritical Union men made the 
astonishing discovery that Sherman, the old soldier, 
who had been skirmishing for three days with the 
enemy, was surprised ; but happily the rebels them- 
selves have not found it out to this day. If ever an 
arnry was wide awake at an early hour in the morn- 
ing, that army was Grant's at Shiloh. When the 
enemy came, they found the nationals in force at 
the camps, and in their advanced positions, and " in 
strong force along almost the entire line," according 
to their own acknowledgment. 

The onslaught was as fierce and terrible as the zeal 
of Johnston's inflammatory appeal. The troops of 
Prentiss were raw and inexperienced ; they gave way, 
but formed again within their camp. Sherman's 
troops were also new, and failed him in the critical 
moment, though it was hardly to be wondered at that 



1 74 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

any troops should yield before that impetuous assault 
of superior numbers. But the weak places in the line 
were strengthened, and the ground was doggedly dis- 
puted, after the recoil of the first tremendous shock. 
The battle raged with horrid fury along the entire 
line. 

Grant himself was at Savannah, in accordance with 
his engagement. He was taking an early breakfast 
with his staff in order to be in readiness to ride out 
and meet the commander of the army of the Ohio. 
The scene of hostilities was nine miles distant, and 
the sound of the booming guns reached his anxious 
ears. He wrote a hasty note to Buell, informing him 
that the battle had begun, and that, instead of meeting 
him, he must hasten up the river to join his forces. 

Taking a steamer at the shore, he sped on his way 
to the scene of the strife, only stopping a moment at 
Crump's Landing, to leave his orders with General 
Lew Wallace, in anticipation of an emergency. 
Hurrying on, he arrived at Pittsburg Landing at 
eight o'clock, and instantly dashed to the front, as fast 
as horse could carry him. The condition of the battle 
was not hopeful, but Grant went to work with his 
accustomed zeal and energy. Messages were sent to 
Wallace and Nelson to hasten forward their troops ; 
wagon loads of ammunition were ordered up to the 
front, stragglers and panic-stricken files of men were 
reorganized, and every effort made to save the day. 

Some six or eight thousand men were demoralized 
by the savageness of the conflict ; but in spite of this 
mortifying fact, the line remained unbroken : indeed, 
only once during the day was it penetrated. Thinned 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 75 

as it was by the misconduct of a fourth part of the 
troops, it still permitted no opening for the enemy. 
The contest had become a hand-to-hand fight, in 
which personal prowess and valor were to win the 
day. It was only a question of pluck and endurance. 
Grant was everywhere, encouraging the faithful, and 
stimulating the recreant. 

Anxiously did the hard-pressed line wait the coming 
of the expected reenforcements ; but neither Nelson 
nor Wallace appeared in season to render any efficient 
service. Step by step, inch by inch, the national line 
was forced back, until darkness suspended the con- 
flict. Johnston had fallen ; Beauregard was in com- 
mand ; and again and again did he hurl his forces 
against the Union line : still it remained firm to the 
last, and still it held the battle-field in spite of the 
ground it had lost. 

My friend Pollard almost curses Beauregard for not 
striking the final blow in this sharp battle ; but doubt- 
less that distinguished rebel knew what he was about 
better than any civilian could teach him. He was 
fond enough of display and sensation to finish up the 
battle if it had been possible. He had found, after 
fighting the national forces from early dawn, what it 
was made of, and, with the remotest hope of driving 
the army of Grant into the river, he would not have 
given the order to withdraw beyond the enemy's fire. 

Though a portion of the army of the Tennessee 
misbehaved before the enemy, it was not routed, nor, 
as an army, demoralized. Technically, according to 
Sherman, it had gained the victory : it had ccruiinly 
repulsed the attack. It had not been driven into the 



176 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

river, and there was no thought of surrender. No 
transports were sent for ; no attempt to bridge the 
river was made, in order to retreat and escape. The 
fiery zeal, the mad enthusiasm, of the Confederates 
had carried them through one of the severest fights 
of the war. The advantage, but not the victory, was 
with them. It was a drawn battle. 

As the conflict was suspended, Grant gave orders 
for his army to attack on the following morning. Be- 
fore Buell's main army was heard from, even before 
Nelson's division had crossed the river, he had decided 
to renew the fight at an early hour the next day, mak- 
ing the attack himself! It was wicked for my friend 
Pollard to reproach his friend Beauregard for not 
annihilating such a man ; for not giving the finishing 
blow to an army which was at that moment making 
its calculations to attack with the next daylight. 

After dark, in the midst of a pelting storm, almost 
worn out by the heavy burdens of that day, and still 
suffering from the injuries he had received by the fall 
of his horse, Grant went to the headquarters of each 
general of division, assigned to him his position, and 
gave him particular orders for the resumption of the 
battle at daylight. At midnight he had completed 
his rounds, and returned to the Landing, where he 
lay down upon the soaked ground, with his head on 
a stump for a pillow, and slept soundly till morning. 
He was completely drenched with the rain, but he 
was confident of the victory on the morrow, and no 
discomfort was too great for him to endure in the 
hoi)- cause in which he had embarked. 

While he slept, the two gunboats in the river kept 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. I 77 

up their fire over his head, throwing shells into the 
rebel lines. It is a popular idea that these gunboats 
saved the Union army from total destruction ; that 
without them the heroes of that hard-fought battle 
would have been obliged to surrender, or be driven 
into the river. The men saved and protected them- 
selves by their strong right hands, though doubtless 
the gunboats rendered considerable assistance. Even 
Pollard, who generally has a proper respect for these 
terrible engines of war, says their fire was terrific in 
sound, but did no damage. 

A mile from the camp the wounded of the army 
lay in the agony of their suffering. Nothing could be 
done for them, for they were within the enemy's line. 
The exhausted troops slept on their arms, pelted by 
the fierce tempest of the elements at night, as they 
had been by the bullets of a savage foe through all 
the long day. They were safe, or they could not have 
slept. Most of them had performed miracles of 
valor, in strong contrast with the cowards who had 
fled. 

Sherman had been wounded several times, and had 
three horses shot under him. He had fought his own 
division and that of an inexperienced general near 
him. His personal influence, backed up by his per- 
sonal heroism, had kept the line firm and united under 
the fierce onslaughts of the enemy. Grant commend- 
ed him on the battle-field for his noble exertions, and 
there can be no doubt that, in the morning, Sherman 
had saved the day. 

At half past four in the afternoon, after the conflict 
had been raging almost incessantly for twelve hours, 
12 



178 OUR STANDARD-BEAKER, OR 

it reached the culminating point of its fierceness. 
Grant sat on his horse, calm, unmoved, and grand in 
his thoughtful silence. The cannon roared fearfully 
on the left, and seemed to be approaching nearer, as 
though the rebels were successful in their attempt to 
flank the entire position, so as to cut off the retreat 
of the nationals. 

" Doesn't the prospect begin to look gloomy?" said 
an officer at his side, just as another was killed within 
a few feet of him. 

"Not at all," replied Grant, quietly. "They can't 
force our lines around these batteries to-night — it is 
too late. Delay counts everything with us. To- 
morrow we shall attack them with fresh troops, and 
drive them, of course." 

During the night, Buell's divisions arrived, were 
ferried over the river, and placed in line for the battle 
of the next day. It is almost a pity that it can never 
be known what Grant would have done without these 
reinforcements, though, for my own part, I am en- 
tirely satisfied that the result would have been the 
same. I am quite sure that he had impressed him- 
self upon his officers and men in such a manner as 
to win the victory by the plan he had laid down. 
1 1 is genius would have found a way to overcome all 
obstacles, for his will was as resolute at night as in 
the morning. 

After the battle, General Buell, in a kindly way, 
indulged in some criticisms on Grant's policy of 
fighting with the Tennessee in his rear. 

" Where could you have retreated if you had been 
beaten, general?" asked Buell. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 79 

" I didn't mean to be beaten," replied Grant. 

" But suppose you had been beaten in spite of all 
your exertions." 

" Well, there were all the transports to convey the 
remains of the command across the river." 

" But, general, your whole number of transports 
would not accommodate more than ten thousand 
men, and you had thirty thousand engaged," per- 
sisted Buell. 

" Well, if I had been beaten, transportation for ten 
thousand would have been abundant for all there 
would have been left of us." 

Such was the spirit of the man in the midst of the 
gigantic difficulties which surrounded him. Demoral- 
ized troops, the tardiness of his reinforcements, and 
the incapacity of some of his officers, failed to over- 
whelm him. He rose above all obstacles, and looked 
confidently to victory, even in the darkest hour of that 
desperate fight. 

It ought to be added, in justice to our army, that 
" straggling " was not confined to their ranks. The 
enemy suffered quite as much from this evil, in spite 
of Johnston's stirring appeal. Bragg, in his report, 
mentions the fact that the rebel ranks " were thinned 
by killed, wounded, and stragglers, amounting in the 
whole to nearly one half our force." The unparalleled 
length and severity of the contest may, to some ex- 
tent, explain this defection on both sides. But the 
result of the day proved that, in pluck and endurance, 
the Northern army was the equal, if not the superior, 
of its rival. 



I So OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Wherein Captaiii Galligasken finishes the Battle 
of Shiloh, and sympathizes with the illustrious 
Soldier in his unmei'ited Disgrace while he is 
waiting, waiting, before Corinth. 

THE rebels had no intimation of the arrival of 
Buell's army, and though they had lost one half 
of their force in the battle of the first day, they stood 
their ground. If my innocent friend Mr. Pollard 
really believed that it only required a smart dash to 
finish the army of the Union, he must severely censure 
Beauregard for not following up his advantage, not 
knowing that Buell had effected a junction with the 
army of the Tennessee. If Beauregard himself be- 
lieved the sensational report he wrote of the battle, he 
would have made haste to drive his beaten foe into 
the river. He was an early riser on emergencies like 
this, but he does not seem to have had any fears that 
Grant would attempt to escape in his alleged broken 
and helpless condition ! 

The rebel general knew better than he wrote, and 
his actions speak louder than his words. He had lost 
half his army, according to his own confession, which 
was a much greater loss in proportion to the force 
engaged than the national army sustained. He had 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. iSl 

been repeatedly repulsed during the preceding day, 
and he was in no hurry to resume the conflict. 

The battle of Monday commenced on the left and 
centre by the advance of Nelson's fresh troops. The 
rebels fought well, notwithstanding the fatigues of the 
previous day, and gallantly disputed every inch of 
ground. The scene of Sunday was repeated, with 
the results reversed. Slowly and steadily the Confed- 
erates were forced back, until all the lost ground had 
been recovered. General Buell was in the field, and 
exhibited the most conspicuous gallantry and skill. 

At two o'clock in the afternoon the repulse of the 
rebels was complete, and they had been driven from 
the battle-field. Before dark they were five miles 
from Grant's front line on Sunday morning. Towards 
night a regiment of Union troops was hard pressed by 
the enemy, in their efforts to capture a certain posi- 
tion which it was desirable to possess. The rebels, 
intent upon holding the point, had brought a heavy 
force to bear upon their assailants, and the regiment 
had begun to give way. Grant saw the struggles of 
the overmatched Union men, and deemed it of the 
highest importance to capture the position. 

An Ohio regiment, marching across the field, at- 
tracted his attention. He immediaely halted it, and, 
leading the way himself, ordered the men to charge in 
support of the overpowered force. They recognized 
Grant, and shouting with enthusiasm, promptly 
obeyed the command. He led them into the battle 
himself, more exposed in person than any private in 
the ranks. The breaking line, seeing their general 
bringing assistance to them in this impressive manner, 



1 82 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

close up their files, and with thundering cheers the 
two regiments went into the fight, driving the enemy 
before them, and securing the last position on the field. 

The battle was ended, and the day was won. 
Grant, desirous of fighting the battle " through," 
expressed his wishes to two of Buell's division com- 
manders ; but they protested that their men were ex- 
hausted by their long march, and were in no condition 
to pursue the fleeing host, and Grant was reluctantly 
compelled to content himself with the finale he had 
already achieved ; though a portion of Sherman's 
command followed the rebels a short distance on the 
road to Corinth. 

The entire loss of the national army in this bloody 
fight, in killed, wounded, and missing, was twelve 
thousand two hundred and seventeen. This number 
included the loss in the army of the Ohio. Beaure- 
gard reported his total loss at ten thousand seven 
hundred ; but he made a mistake in his footings some- 
where. Both he and Bragg declare that the rebels 
could put only twenty thousand of the force they re- 
ported on Sunday into the field for the second day's 
battle, which leaves a like number to be accounted for 
on the first day's engagement. His loss was heavy 
on the second day. He must have had at least fifteen 
thousand stragglers and deserters, according to his 
own statements, or his loss was much greater than he 
reported. 

According to General Sherman, who ought to be 
regarded as the highest authority, the battle of Shiloh 
was fought for prestige. The rebels had marched 
out of Corinth, three days before, with the finest army 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1S3 

they could gather, with the ablest and most experi- 
enced officers in their service in command, to over- 
whelm the " Northern hordes." They had fought with 
a pluck and persistency, nay, with a savage ferocity, 
which certainly had not been equalled at that time, 
and has not since been surpassed. They were met 
w r ith a correspondent obstinacy on the part of the 
national forces. 

" It was a contest for manhood," says Sherman — 
" man to man, soldier to soldier. We fought and held 
our ground, and therefore counted ourselves victori- 
ous. From that time forward we had with us the 
prestige. The battle w T as worth millions and mil- 
lions to us by reason of the fact of the courage dis- 
played by the brave soldiers on that occasion ; and 
from that time to this, I have not heard of the first 
want of courage on the part of our Northern soldiers." 

Thus said Sherman ; and what he said Grant felt, 
as he showed in every movement he made. To have 
lost that battle would have been to lose vastly more 
than the field on which it was fought, and the atten- 
dant military advantages which it secured. The 
grand lesson which all our commanders had to learn 
was taught in this tremendous battle — that, where the 
two armies were so equally matched in the material 
of which their soldiers were composed, and in the 
military skill which their officers brought into the 
field, great victories were to be achieved only by hard 
fighting. 

I have often heard Grant called a " butcher." I 
have often heard it revilingly said of him that he won 
his battles by mere brute force. On my honor and 



1S4 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

conscience as a soldier and a student of the solemn 
lessons of history, I believe that Grant, in the matter 
of the expenditure of human life, was the most eco- 
nomical commander which the War of the Rebellion 
produced. When he fought a battle, he won a vic- 
tory from the very first to the very last. He did not 
waste a single precious life in all his campaigns. The 
manes of no slaughtered hero can rise up against him, 
saying, " You sacrificed me in a vain and foolish bat- 
tle, wherein nothing was gained, but much was lost. 
By your timidity and weakness, by your vacillation 
and penny-wise wisdom, you gave that to the enemy 
for which I fought and died." Not thus can the 
ghost of the murdered patriots reproach Grant. 

If five thousand noble and brave men died to win 
Shiloh and the prestige which lighted up our ban- 
ners from that glorious day, they also died to save 
twenty thousand who would have been sacrificed in a 
more protracted struggle, without that inspiration of 
victory which blazed along the path of the army to 
Vicksburg, to Atlanta and Chattanooga, and which 
was borne from the West to the East with the glorious 
hero who had kindled it in the souls of the soldiers. 

In giving up the lives of thousands of willing heroes 
he saved the lives of tens of thousands. This was 
true economy, and this was Grant's policy, solemnly 
chosen, after a broad view of the situation and the full- 
est consideration of the awful responsibility which 
rests upon the commander of an army. I believe he 
covenanted with the nation, before God, wisely and 
prudently to expend the blessed lives placed in his keep- 
ing, lie is a gentle and humane man, incapable of 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 85 

revelling in the flow of blood. I repeat emphatically 
that every life lost beneath his victorious banner was 
a life which purchased its share in the nation's re- 
demption and peace. 

As I have said before, no battle has been more thor- 
oughly misrepresented than that of Shiloh. In spite of 
the heroic and masterly operations of Grant, in spite of 
the success which crowned his arms, he was systemat- 
ically vilified and abused. My blood boils with indig- 
nation as I think of it, that he, the brilliant soldier, the 
most successful commander even then upon the arena 
of battle, should be foully and basely maligned by his 
inferiors and his superiors. It is mortifying to think 
that his stanch friend, but former political opponent, 
Mr. Washburne, found it necessary to defend the hero 
of Fort Donelson and Shiloh on the floor of Congress, 
though it is pleasant to know that he did it effectually 
and enthusiastically — in just such a spirit as I would 
have done it had I been there. 

Grant was accused of bad generalship, of incompe- 
tency, of being a butcher, a drunkard, and a sheep- 
stealer, for aught I know. His generalship was cer- 
tainly of a different order from that which had been 
exhibited to the waiting nation by the commanders 
of the Union, who marched, countermarched, felt of 
the enemy, and then retired to recruit for three or six 
months, rarely fighting a battle, unless compelled to 
do so by the pertinacity of the enemy. It was Grant's 
policy to attack, and not wait to be attacked — his 
policy from the beginning to the end ; and with what 
success it was attended is known now. if it was not 
then. 



1 86 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Cowards and poltroons who had deserted the ranks 
at Shiloh told exaggerated tales of the misfortunes of 
the battle. They were frightened and demoralized — 
Grant was not. Those who believed in carrying on 
war as a game of chess is played stood aghast at the 
real battle which the hero fought. But his mode of 
operations will appear so decidedly advantageous in 
contrast with that which immediately followed under 
the leadership of one who believed only in " brilliant 
strategy," in chess-board movements, that it is not 
necessary to dwell upon his defence. 

Kid-glove critics, civilian correspondents of news- 
papers, and the advocates of the checker-board theory, 
howled because Grant established his camp on the 
left, instead of the right, bank of the Tennessee — on 
the same side as the enemy, instead of on the opposite 
side. Certainly the eastern shore was the safe side ; but 
the invincible conqueror went down in Tennessee for 
the purpose of capturing Corinth, and breaking the 
line of the rebel railroad communication, and he had 
no idea of posting himself where he could not get at the 
enemy. He knew very well that he was able to defend 
himself; and when he fought the great battle, though 
the enemy brought it on, he fought it for the posses- 
sion of Corinth ; and if he had had his own way, he 
would have taken Corinth within a fortnight after 
Shiloh. The position was selected by General C. F. 
Smith, the veteran soldier; it was indorsed and re- 
tained by Grant; and the result fully justifies his 
course. 

The personal habits of the hero were maliciously 
stated to be bad. It was affirmed that he was a 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 87 

drunkard — that he was intoxicated in the field. Mr. 
Washburne was able to say at that time, " There is 
no more temperate man in the army than General 
Grant. He never indulges in the use of intoxicating 
liquors at all. He is an example of courage, honor, 
fortitude, activity, temperance, and modesty; for he is 
as modest as he is brave and incorruptible." 

I have before shown that Grant was not surprised 
— for if his army had been surprised, the fault would 
have been as justly chargeable to him as though he 
had been personally present on the ground. He had 
been to the front himself the night before and ex- 
amined the situation ; he had placed Sherman — the 
tried and the true as he knew him then — in the most 
advanced position. Grant himself says, " As to the 
talk of our being surprised, nothing could be more 
false. If the enemy had sent us word where and 
when they would attack, we could not have been bet- 
ter prepared." 

It was undeniable that the brave general, the suc- 
cessful commander, was again under a cloud. All the 
false rumors were in time disproved ; but if there had 
been no malignant, jealous enemies, dreading a total 
eclipse of their own farthing candles in his de- 
partment, the country would have believed in Grant 
after Shiloh, as they did after Donelson. An effort 
was made to relieve him entirely from command, and 
to extinguish the star which was steadily rising. 

General Halleck painfully went through the neces- 
sary form of thanking Generals Grant and Buell for 
their conduct at Shiloh, and immediately repaired to 
the scene of operations to take command of the united 



iSS OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

armies of Grant and Buell in person, now called 
" The Grand Army of the Tennessee." It was largely 
reenforced, and numbered one hundred and twenty 
thousand men. It was divided into three corps, under 
Thomas, Pope, and Buell, with McClernand in the 
reserve. Grant was nominally in command of the 
Tennessee district ; but his army was placed beyond 
his control, and orders were transmitted to his subor- 
dinates without any knowledge on his part of their 
purport. 

Grant was second in command, without power or 
influence in the camp. Halleck consoled him with a 
sarcastic bit of philosophy, declaring that the second 
in command, in case the chief was killed, ought not to 
be embarrassed with the immediate control of a body 
of troops. Grant did not appreciate the situation, and 
evidently believed that there was no danger of his 
superior's falling in battle. The man who had won 
Donelson and Shiloh so heroically could not be winked 
entirely out of sight, or doubtless he would not have 
been permitted to retain even a complimentary posi- 
tion. Grant was practically in disgrace, and was so 
regarded in the army. His situation was intensely 
disagreeable, and nothing but his unselfish devotion to 
the cause prevented him from retiring in disgust from 
the field where he was insultingly ignored. 

The grand army of the Tennessee, under Halleck, 
felt its way, behind a series of intrenchments, to a 
position in front of Corinth, using up six weeks in a 
progress of fifteen miles. Probably Beauregard at 
Corinth had seventy thousand men, though he stated 
his force as below fifty. The grand army was evi- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 89 

dently superior in numbers, and both officers and men 
were anxious to strike a blow, confident of their ability 
to annihilate the rebel army. It made our blood boil to 
see these glorious opportunities slipping away from us. 
Halleck only waited and waited for the rebels to come 
out and attack him ; but Beauregard had been edu- 
cated up to the point of prudence by Grant, and he 
stuck to his works as closely as Halleck did. In a 
word, while Grant was shelved as a second in com- 
mand, the farce of Manassas was repeated to the sat- 
isfaction of the. admiring rebels, and to the disgust and 
mortification of the loyal people. 

But Grant was not idle, cipher as he was in the 
army. He watched the enemy, and found, with unerr- 
ing skill, the weak point in their line of intrenchments. 
He shared the general feeling of impatience which 
pervaded the army, and ventured to suggest to General 
Halleck that an assault at the point indicated, followed 
up by a general movement, would be successful. Hal- 
leck scouted the idea, and crustily told Grant that 
when his suggestions were wanted, they would be 
called for. 

All this time Beauregard was studying up a plan to 
escape without the knowledge of the besiegers. On 
the 30th of May, after the grand army had been nearly 
two months rusting in inactivity, the cunning rebel 
made a deceptive movement, and the mighty general, 
hoodwinked and deceived, deeming an attack immi- 
nent, drew up in line of battle his vast army, the 
largest ever gathered in the West, and made elaborate 
preparations to defend himself. But not a gun opened 
upon him, not a rebel was to be seen. 



I90 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Beauregard, with wonderful skill and prudence, 
had fled from the toils of the overwhelming force on 
his front, leaving his wooden guns on the ramparts 
where they had confounded General Halleck. Corinth 
was evacuated, and the wily rebel had saved his 
army ! General Halleck marched in triumph into 
Corinth ! 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. IQI 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken treats of the Corinth 
Campaign, and admiringly calls Attentio7z to the 
splendid Abilities oj 7 the illustrious Soldier as a 
District Commander. 

DURING the quiet repose of the grand army of 
the Tennessee before Corinth, events of vast 
importance had transpired in the West and South. 
Island No. 10 had been captured by the indomitable 
flag-officer Foote ; New Orleans had been taken by 
the tremendous operations of Farragut. In the East, 
Fort Pulaski had been battered down, Fredericksburg 
captured ; Fort Macon had fallen, following Burn- 
side's success in North Carolina ; and Huntsville, Ala- 
bama, was occupied by General Mitchell. McClellan 
had at last commenced a hopeful forward movement 
with the army of the Potomac. With vast armies in 
the East and in the West, with strong naval forces 
ascending and descending the Mississippi towards its 
obstructed points, the national cause looked exceed- 
ingly promising as the summer of 1S62 opened. But 
the promise was not realized. The summer sun glared 
on many a lost battle in the East, though the conquest 
w 4 as uninterrupted in the West. 

Halleck made no efficient pursuit of the enemy after 



I92 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

they fyad abandoned Corinth. Beauregard had been 
successfully hiding his weakness from his prudent 
checker-board adversary, and, understanding his man, 
outwitted him completely and handsomely. Grant 
had fought and won Corinth, whether it was occu- 
pied in a week or in two months. He had taught 
the vaunting rebels a lesson by which Halleck was 
too willing to profit, as he peacefully pursued his 
siege operations till the 1st of June. Bueli was a 
prudent man, and he was sent out to catch the retreat- 
ing and demoralized foe. Pope had been despatched 
on the same errand ; but their united forces accom- 
plished nothing. During this time, Grant remained 
at Corinth. The grand army was then broken up, 
and Buell sent in the direction of Chattanooga. From 
Shiloh the vast army marched up the hill and then 
marched down again, in humble imitation of the King 
of France in the nursery rhyme. Nothing was done 
except what Grant had accomplished. 

By the continued successes of the flotilla on the 
Mississippi, Memphis, after a brilliant naval engage- 
ment, fell into the hands of the Union force. Grant, 
as the commander of the Tennessee district, estab- 
lished his headquarters at this city. Pope was ordered 
to Virginia, to supersede Fremont, where he estab- 
lished his celebrated " headquarters in the saddle." 

McClellan had gradually felt his way down to the 
vicinity of Richmond, when the rebels, out oT patience 
with him, fell upon his forces, and drove him to the 
shelter of the gunboats on the James, after his glori- 
ous army had fought some of the most brilliant defen- 
sive battles of the war. The country cried out against 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 93 

him for this delay, derided his use of the pick and 
shovel, and unhorsed him because he neglected his 
opportunities. While he was still resting from his 
hard-fought but useless battles, the government re- 
moved him from his position of general-in-chief, and 
assigned General Halleck to his place, probably on, 
account of his brilliant operations before Corinth, 
where he had played through the farce of " regular 
approaches," though with none of the tragic features 
which attended it before Richmond. 

Halleck was now in power, and one of his first 
acts, even before he left for Washington, was to offer 
the command of the army of the Tennessee to Colonel 
Allen, a quartermaster. This gentleman, who was to 
be promoted to the required rank, to enable him to 
accept the command, had the good sense to decline it, 
and Grant was permitted to retain his position.' He was 
deprived of nearly his entire force, and left to main- 
tain a defensive position. He made his headquarters 
at Corinth, protecting the railroad communications, 
and holding what had before been gained. He spent 
the summer in this manner, though with enough to do 
to keep him busy, for he was continually harassed 
and threatened by the enemy under Van Dorn and 
Price. 

Halleck, in his new capacity of general-in-chief, 
had his hands full in attending to McClellan and 
Pope. Grant seems to have been forgotten, and was 
thereby permitted to manage the affairs of his district 
without being hampered with instructions. The North 
was in danger of invasion in Maryland, rendered pos- 
sible by the disastrous battles of Pope, and in Ohio by 
13 



194 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the rebel army under General Bragg, who had out- 
generaled the prudent and deliberate Buell. In these 
emergencies, Grant's men were taken from him, till 
the smallness of his force afforded even him no little 
anxiety. 

Van Dorn, in command of the rebels in this sec- 
tion, ordered Price to seize Iuka, which was done. 
Van Dorn himself was four days' lrjarch to the south- 
west, threatening Corinth. Grant wished to over- 
whelm Price at Iuka, without exposing Corinth to 
capture by Van Dorn. He sent out two columns, 
one under Rosecrans and the other under Ord, to 
accomplish this purpose. A sharp battle -followed, 
but the intention to capture Price's army foiled, on 
account of a delay of one of the columns in reaching 
the point of attack. The rebels escaped, and effected 
a junction with Van Dorn. 

Placing Rosecrans in command of Corinth, Grant 
established his headquarters at Jackson, Tennessee, 
where he could better control the affairs of his dis- 
trict. On the 2d of October, the rebels united all 
their forces in this vicinity, and attacked Corinth, 
making a good fight, and gaining decided advantages ; 
hut in the end they were defeated, and the place saved. 
The force of the enemy was double that of Rese- 
ct aus. who behaved with distinguished gallantry. The 
defensive works which had been erected under Grant's 
direction proved to be of immense service, and showed 
that the general who had been severely criticised for 
neglecting them before knew when and where to use 
them — knew when they were necessary, and where 
they were a hinderance. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 95 

Grant had marked out this campaign himself; and 
though the battle of Corinth had been fought, and the 
rebels defeated, there was to be a sequel to the affair. 
Reading the intention of the foe to attack his strong 
place, he sent McPherson with a brigade to the assist- 
ance of Rosecrans ; but he arrived only in season to 
witness the conclusion of the fight, being obliged to 
make a detour in order to effect his junction. Grant, 
with his usual confidence in the success of his combi- 
nations, had also sent Generals Ord and Hurlbut, each 
with a brigade, to punish still further the audacious 
foe in his retreat. He had notified Rosecrans of his 
plan, and directed him to follow up the retreating 
enemy vigorously, as well to insure his complete dis- 
comfiture, as to save either Ord or Hurlbut from being 
separately overwhelmed by a superior force. But 
these two commanders had joined their brigades, and 
Ord posted the whole so as to cover a bridge on the 
Hatchie River. 

Van Dorn's column pushed on, and its advance 
crossed the bridge, when Ord's force attacked vigor- 
ously, and immediately routed it. A battery of artil- 
lery and several hundred men were captured, and the 
advance scattered, many of the rebels being drowned 
in their attempt to cross the river. Ord held the bridge, 
but had not strength enough to attack the entire rebel 
army, which he compelled to retrace its steps, and 
seek another bridge six miles distant. Unfortunately, 
Ord was wounded in the conflict, and Hurlbut, who 
succeeded to the command, did not deem it prudent 
even to harass the fleeing rebels in the rear or on the 
flanks. 



I96 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Rosecrans permitted his men, weary after their two 
days' hard fight, to rest till the next morning, when he 
started to obey Grant's order. Then he mistook his 
road, marched eight miles in the wrong direction, but 
he corrected his error, and marched towards the 
Hatchie. He was behind time, having disregarded 
the order of Grant to march the day before, arriving 
at the bridge, where the rebels had crossed, just as the 
rear-guard was going over. Had he obeyed his 
orders, he would have fallen on Van Dorn's rear, 
while his front was engaged with Ord ; and nothing 
could have saved the rebel army from total destruction. 
Grant decided that the favorable moment had passed, 
and he ordered Rosecrans back to his post. 

These movements relieved West Tennessee from 
any further peril at the present time. The rebels had 
been whipped at Iuka, at Corinth, and at the Hatchie. 
All these movements and all these victories were 
achieved under the direction of Grant. The success 
of these operations was gratifying, though not all it 
would have been if the general had selected his own 
subordinates, as he did subsequently in a wider sphere. 
If Grant had any fault as a soldier in the field, it was 
the result of the amiability of his character, which 
prompted him to save the feelings of others, even at 
the expense of his own reputation. He was not 
always obeyed, because he was not a stormy and 
demonstrative man, because he did not bluster and 
put on airs. There was nothing personally imposing 
or grand in him, and the officers of the army estimated 
him loo low — so low that some of them evaded his 
orders. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 97 

But Grant could be terribly severe, terribly just, 
when the emergencies of the service demanded, when 
his devotion to the glorious cause he had espoused 
required it. During his brief sojourn in Memphis, 
which was the very hotbed of treason and treachery, 
he breathed the spirit of loyalty to the government into 
the souls of the rebels, who did not scruple to carry 
on war by divers underhand methods within the still 
hostile city. No letters not examined by the provost 
marshal could be carried out of town without sub- 
jecting the offender to arrest. Arms and ammunition 
were prohibited from being taken out of the city, or 
carried within it, on severe penalty. As these orders 
failed to suppress the illict traffic with foes outside of 
the lines, all passes were refused, except to such as 
took the oath of allegiance, or parole. As Confeder- 
ate officers and soldiers found opportunities to com- 
municate with their families in Memphis, thereby 
obtaining important military information, the families 
of all such were banished beyond the lines. This 
order included the connections of other specified per- 
sons in the Confederate government, and there was not 
much room left for rebel sympathizers to operate. 

As a check upon guerrillas, who were doing much 
mischief, Grant authorized reprisals upon the per- 
sonal property of those in the vicinity who were in 
sympathy with the rebellion, to an extent sufficient 
to remunerate the government for all losses by their 
depredations. A bitter partisan organ, the Memphis 
Avalanche, which published incendiary and treasona- 
ble articles, was promptly suppressed. He took pos- 
session of unoccupied premises belonging to persons 



I9S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

absent and in arms against the government, rented 
them, and paid the proceeds into the treasury of the 
United States. For the benefit of the fugitive negroes, 
who crowded into his lines, he issued humane and 
just orders, particularly defining the manner in which 
they should be employed and paid. Persons from the 
South who were willing to bluster, but not to fight, for 
the Confederacy, and hastened to Memphis to escape 
the "remorseless rebel conscription, were made liable 
to draft. 

In dealing with the troops under his own com- 
mand, Grant was just and humane ; but " bumming" 
and marauding on private account were prohibited. 
When the soldiers, in some instances, disobeyed the 
strict orders on this subject, the value of property taken 
or destroyed by them was charged to the account of 
their regiment, and deducted from their pay, if the 
offenders could not be discovered. 

In dealing with civil affairs, in the multitudinous 
details which come within the scope of a department 
commander, he displayed a decided talent and ability 
to adjust the most difficult matters. He always knew 
where he was, and what to do. For every difficulty 
he had a remedy ; for every infraction of law or dis- 
cipline he had a check. In the management of the 
trying affairs of a military district, which has so fre- 
quently proved to be the severest demand upon the 
wisdom, skill, and patience of the soldier holding it 
under martial law, he displayed the highest order of 
ability. His judgment, tact, and discretion would 
have been more than creditable in one who had spent 
a lifetime in the study and practice of the principles 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1 99 

of political economy, or who had served a long ap- 
prenticeship as a magistrate. Without being a poli- 
tician, he was a statesman. 

But Grant had hardly made his mark yet, and, 
except as the hero of Donelson and Shiloh, he was 
scarcely known to the country, before which he was 
soon to stand as the foremost man of his time. I 
watched Grant at Memphis, I watched him at Cor- 
inth and at Jackson, as he controlled the difficult 
details of his department, kept the rebel civilians in 
subjection, and directed his forces to certain con- 
quest, and I would rather have been Ulysses S. Grant 
than my illustrious ancestor Sir Bernard Galligasken, 
whose knightly prowess and whose glittering title had 
early tickled my imagination. Even then I loved the 
man, and almost adored him, as I realized that a 
brilliant destiny was in store for him. 

As far back as May, 1862, when McClellan had 
only proved that he was great as the organizer of an 
army, — and it must be conceded that he has not 
since proved any more than this, — my excellent friend 
Mr. Washburne, in his noble speech in Congress, 
deemed it expedient to use these remarkable words : 
" Let no gentleman have any fears of General Grant. 
He is no candidate for the presidency." Surely 
with only the lustre of Donelson and Shiloh reflected 
upon him, he never thought of aspiring to that mag- 
nificent position. Why was it necessary, when the 
illustrious soldier had only taken a couple of steps 
towards fame, to make this astounding declaration? 
Was it seen even then that he was a probable or a 
possible candidate in the future? The noble-minded 



200 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

and patriotic representative made this declaration to 
save Grant from the persecution of the wire-pullers, 
whose friends, the possible candidates, would be dam- 
aged by the appearance of a new aspirant, who, with 
a fitness for the office, added thereto the merit of avail- 
ability. It was well for the politicians to take the bull 
by the horns, but they might as well attempt to nullify 
the laws of nature as to defeat the will of the people. 
Grant had then no thought of being president. His 
modesty, if nothing else, would have forbidden the 
aspiration. He was a pure patriot then, as he is now ; 
and the only consideration with him was to suppress 
the rebellion. He never " pulled the wires," even for 
a brigadier's commission, which was not above the 
ambition of thousands of fourth-rate politicians. He 
was ready to serve the country in any capacity, obeyed 
his orders, and quietly submitted to disgrace and in- 
sult for the good of the cause. The people are not 
blind. They see and know their man. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES So GRANT. 201 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Wherein Captain Galligaskeiz shows how six 
Months were spent around Vicksbztrg by the 
illustrious Soldier, and how the President rather 
liked the Man, and thought he would try him a 
little lofiger. 

THE second line of rebel defences had been 
broken. Memphis, Corinth, and the towns on 
the Tennessee River, in Northern Alabama, connect- 
ing links in the chain, were in possession of the nation- 
al forces. But Buell had failed in his expedition to 
East Tennessee. He had made no impression upon 
Chattanooga ; he had been beaten at Perrysville, and 
had been superseded by Rosecrans. 

After the departure of General Halleck from the 
West to act as general-in-chief, Grant was left virtu- 
ally in charge of the department of the Tennessee, and 
discharged all the duties of that important position. 
On the 1 6th of October, 1S62, he was formally as- 
signed to the command, and near the close of the 
month issued his order to that effect, and defined the 
limits of his jurisdiction. Very soon after, he pro- 
posed to Halleck to commence a movement upon Vicks- 
burg ; and this was the first mention which had been 



202 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

made by either of them of this important point. But 
Grant meekly and modestly added that he was ready 
to do with all his might whatever his superior should 
order, and witJiout criticism, which, I humbly sub- 
mit, was a magnificent position for a man of his 
enlarged and comprehensive views to take, for most 
of our generals believed they were nothing unless 
they were critical. He w 7 as a grand exception, and 
we do not, in a single instance, outside of the line of 
his duty, find him analyzing and carping at the opera- 
tions of others. 

Vicksburg was now the objective point, for Halleck 
gave the commander of the department of the Ten- 
nessee full power and permission to carry out his own 
plans and purposes in his own way. From this time 
there was no clashing between the two generals. 
They heartily supported each other, as Grant had 
always been willing to do, and Halleck afforded him 
every assistance and encouragement in his power. It 
is possible that he had received a new revelation in 
regard to the abilities of the hero of Donelson and 
Shiloh ; that Grant's exhibition of his skill in con- 
structing earthworks at Corinth had won the heart of 
the general-in-chief, or that his handsome strategic 
movements in the operations which had included 
Iuka, Corinth, and the Hatchic had demonstrated 
the fact that he was not a mere bull-dog thirsting for 
blood, and without any perception of military tact 
and skill. It w r as rather late for Halleck to learn 
this ; but to his honor and glory let it be said, that he 
no longer permitted himself to be a stumbling-block 
in the path of his subordinate ; that he fairly and 
squarely sustained him in his grand enterprises. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 203 

From the beginning of the war the Confederacy 
had been fully alive to the vital importance of the 
Mississippi River. From Columbus to the Gulf it 
had been fortified and protected by every means 
which the skill and resources of the South could af- 
ford. Forts Jackson and St. Philip guarded its lower 
part, and covered New Orleans ; though these were nul- 
lified by the daring of Farragut, and the city fell early 
in the war. But there were half a dozen other " Gib- 
raltar " on its long line — Columbus, Island No. 10, 
Fort Pillow, Memphis, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson. 
Foote had used up Island No. 10, after the rebels were 
compelled to evacuate Columbus. Fort Pillow and 
Memphis had yielded before the persuasive force of 
the naval squadron, and only Vicksburg and Port 
Hudson were left to dispute the passage of the great 
river. Between these two points the enemy, depend- 
ing almost wholly upon Texas for its supplies of cat- 
tle, ferried them over, and by the line of railroads 
from Vicksburg to Charleston, not yet approached by 
the national arms, were enabled still to send food to 
all their armies in the east and south. 

Bold Farragut had passed the batteries at Port 
Hudson with his squadron, and sailed up to Vicks- 
burg, more than five hundred miles from the Gulf. 
I^ere he had bombarded the strong works which pro- 
tected the city ; but as they were planted on high 
bluffs, all the advantage was in favor of the enemy, 
and the result was not a success. The troops which 
accompanied him under General Williams attempted 
to open the canal, which was to form a new bed for 
the river, and enable the fleet to pass the city. But 



204 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

this scheme also failed, and though a part of the 
squadron ran the gantlet of the batteries, and joined 
the naval force above the city, the expedition was 
obliged to return to New Orleans to escape the dis- 
eases incident to the climate. 

About the ist of November Grant initiated his 
movement in the direction of Vicksburg. Commen- 
cing on the line of defence which had just been wrested 
from the rebels, there was a railroad extending from 
Memphis to Grenada. Fifty miles east of Memphis, 
from near La Grange, on the railroad extending east 
and west, was another line to the south — the Missis- 
sippi Central — which also went to Grenada, where 
the two roads meeting extended to Jackson, forty miles 
east of Vicksburg, and thence to New Orleans. Both 
of these roads crossed the Tallahatchie River, a branch 
of the Yazoo, which flowed into the Mississippi a few 
miles above Vicksburg. Grant's plan was to move 
down upon these lines of railway, depending upon 
them in his rear for supplies. 

Pemberton, who was in command of Vicksburg 
and the forces which were covering it in the State of 
Mississippi, was holding the railroad, and made the 
Tallahatchie River his line of defence. On the 4th 
of November, Grant took possession of La Grange, 
near the Central Railroad, driving the Confederate 
advance to Holly Springs, about twenty miles farther 
south. 

While Grant moved in this direction, Sherman 
started from Memphis, and another force was moved 
out from Helena to cooperate with him. Grant pro- 
ceeded on the railroad, captured Holly Springs, and 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 205 

made it his depot of supplies, placing it in charge of 
Colonel Murphy.' Continuing on his victorious path, 
the enemy abandoned Abbeville, and the line of the 
Tallahatchie, without a battle, and were finally driven 
into Grenada, with the Yallabusha River as their line 
of defence. Here the commander proposed to hold 
the rebels, and send an army from Memphis to make 
the direct attack upon Vicksburg. For this purpose 
Sherman was sent back, with directions to organize 
the expedition, and procure the cooperation of the 
squadron under Admiral Porter. 

Sherman executed his orders with his usual decision. 
With one hundred and twenty-seven steamers, and a 
flotilla of gunboats for his protection, he went down 
the river, and debarked his force at Johnston's Land- 
ing, near the mouth of the Yazoo. 

In the mean time, Van Dorn fell upon Holly 
Springs, surprised the garrison, and captured the 
place, with all the supplies which had been accumu- 
lated for the support of the advancing army. Colonel 
Murphy, in command, made no resistance whatever. 
By this sad and unexpected blow, inflicted by the 
imbecility or treachery of a single officer, the entire 
plan of the campaign was defeated. Grant, with his 
army, was in the heart of the enemy's country. His 
communications were cut in several places behind 
him ; his base of supplies was lost, and his stores 
destroyed. The success of the experiment of subsist- 
ing upon the enemy had not been demonstrated then, 
and sorely chagrined and disappointed, the progres- 
sive general was obliged to retrace his steps. It was 
a bitter day to him. Murphy was promptly dismissed 



2o6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

from the army, without even the formality of a court 
martial. 

Sherman, having no knowledge of the disaster 
which had crippled Grant, attacked the enemy's posi- 
tions, and gained some advantages ; but the rebels 
were reenforced by the withdrawal of the army in 
the rear of Vicksburg, and he reembarked his forces, 
abandoning the attempt. At this point General 
McClernand appeared, and superseded Sherman, who 
then took command of one of the corps of the army 
of the Mississippi, as it was from that time designated. 
The great bugbear of Grant's military existence, " a 
political general," was thrown into his path, and 
though this act of the president sorely grieved him, he 
made the best of the circumstances. 

His grand calculation had failed through the das- 
tardly cowardice and imbecility of Murphy ; but 
Grant was still serene in his disappointment, as he 
was in his triumphs, and immediately set himself at 
work to ; * tick it again". He was conscious of the 
magnitude of the enterprise he had undertaken, and 
of the difficulties which lay in his path. After all the 
minor kt Gibraltars" had melted away before the vic- 
torious arms of the Union, Jeff. Davis declared that 
Vicksburg was the Gibraltar of the Mississippi. So 
thoroughly had it been fortified, with battery behind 
battery, with every conceivable approach guarded, 
with the heights for miles around the city bristling 
with guns, the president of the Southern Confederacy 
was perfectly confident that the place was invulnera- 
ble. Above and below the city the country was inter- 
sected with bayous, lakes, and rivers, and the land so 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 207 

low that it hardly afforded a foothold for an army. 
Every rood of high ground in the vicinity was occu- 
pied by the rebels, and covered with defensive works. 

Grant knew all this, and he made up his mind to 
capture Vicksburg. Frowning heights studded with 
guns, fortifications overrunning with obstinate sol- 
diers, swamps and morasses, could not deter him. 
" I cannot tell exactly when I shall take Vicksburg," 
he said, " but I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes 
thirty years." This was the spirit of the man. He 
had actually begun the job, and he was determined to 
carry it through. Towards the close of the year 1S62 
he issued orders for the reorganization of his army, 
having matured the system himself. 

On the 1 st of January, 1S63, the president issued 
the Emancipation Proclamation, taking that greatest 
and most decisive step of the war. It was contrary to 
Grant's political antecedents, but he gave the measure 
his hearty support. Many generals did otherwise, 
and opposed in spirit, if not in fact, the policy of the 
government in using negro troops. Grant issued an 
order in relation to this subject, directing his subordi- 
nates to afford every facility for the organization of 
negro regiments, requesting them " especially to exert 
themselves in carrying out the policy of the .adminis- 
tration, not only in organizing colored regiments and 
rendering them efficient, but also in removing preju- 
dice against them." 

Grant's force iri the department of the Tennessee, 
in January, was one hundred and thirty thousand 
men. Fifty thousand of these he sent down the river 
into camp at Milliken's Bend and at Young's Point. 



20S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Admiral Porter cooperated with him, having a fleet 
of sixty vessels of all classes. On the 29th of January 
he arrived at Young's Point himself, and assumed the 
control of operations against Vicksburg, in spite of a 
protest on the part of McClernand, who gave Grant a 
great deal of trouble in one way and another. 

Grant was then face to face with the great problem 
of the day, the solution of which would cut the Con- 
federacy in two, and separate the east from the cattle 
plains of Texas, from which its armies were fed. No 
point was accessible from which he could operate. 
There was not the remotest possibility of making a 
successful attack in front of the city. The point was 
to reach a position in the rear of the place, where there 
was standing room to conduct siege operations. 

The country was flooded with water, and the troops 
were frequently inundated in their camps. The perils 
and difficulties of the gigantic enterprise were patent 
to all ; but the troops were mostly veterans, and they 
worked with zeal and patience. The president had 
considerable confidence in the Vicksburg canal, and, 
though Grant had but little hope of its success, or little 
confidence in its value if completed, — as the lower 
end of it was covered by rebel batteries, — he labored 
patiently upon it for two months. 

His next plan was to flank the water communica- 
tions of Vicksburg by a navigable course by Lake 
Providence, through a series of bayous and rivers, to 
the Wachita. and thence to the Red River, by which 
a passage could be obtained for light steamers to the 
Mississippi, four hundred miles below. It was an 
immense undertaking:, which nothing but American 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 209 

enterprise would have considered, but which Ameri- 
can enterprise would have accomplished if it had 
been possible. It was not possible, and the plan was 
abandoned. 

A similar attempt was made on the east side of the 
Mississippi, but rather as a means of entering the 
Yazoo to destroy the rebel steamers which had gath- 
ered there, and to break up gunboats in process of 
construction on its shores. There had formerly been 
a steamboat route through Moon Lake, Yazoo Pass, 
the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers, to the Yazoo ; 
but as the influx of water from the great river above 
inundated the whole region annually, a strong levee 
had been built by the state to protect the country, and 
the passage was thus closed. This levee was cut 
through, and after the most incredible exertions in 
removing obstructions placed in the stream by the 
rebels, and cutting an opening through the overhang- 
ing branches, a fleet of light gunboats and transports 
penetrated to the Yallabusha, where its farther prog- 
ress was interrupted by a battery called Fort Pem- 
berton, which could neither be battered down nor 
drowned out. With difficulty the expedition was ex- 
tricated from its perilous position, and though Grant 
had entertained a hope from its first success that he 
should be able to transport his troops and supplies by 
this route to the rear of Vicksburg, he was compelled 
to abandon the idea. 

Still another attempt was made to secure the posi- 
tion by entering the Yazoo, which our gunboats held 
near its mouth, passing through Steele's Bayou and 
several streams into the Big Sunflower, and thence into 
H 



2IO OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the Yazoo again. This attempt was made in con- 
junction with the Yazoo Pass movement, and while 
General Ross, in command of the military expedition 
connected with it, was shut up in the swamp. General 
Grant gave his personal attention to these enterprises ; 
but all of them were impracticable in their nature, 
and had to be abandoned. All the troops and vessels 
were brought off in safety ; and if nothing was gained, 
nothing was lost, even in time, for the country was so 
flooded with water, that operations, except in boats, 
were difficult, if not impossible. 

The nation had been watching these experiments 
with intense interest. When they failed the people 
began to be impatient. Demands were made for the 
removal of General Grant from his command. Again 
was he accused of incompetency, of drunkenness. 
Not a success of any importance had been obtained 
for the national cause since his own victories at Iuka 
and Corinth. Even the president appeared to be dis- 
satisfied, and Grant knew that he was in imminent 
peril of being displaced. Some of his best friends 
deserted him, and one of them voluntarily demanded 
his removal ; but the president replied, " I rather like 
the man. I think we'll try him a little longer." But 
Grant was still confident of ultimate success ; he was 
approaching the mighty idea by which Vicksburg was 
to be brought down. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 211 



CHAPTER XX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken illustrates the Te77i- 
perance Principles of the illustrious Soldier, and 
proceeds with him on his conquering Path to the 
Capital of Mississippi. 

I DO not account it a great misfortune to the country, 
certainly not to Grant himself, that canal and side 
routes had failed ; for success by any of them could 
hardly have been achieved any sooner than by the 
brilliant scheme finally adopted. But the people 
complained, the great generals complained, the pres- 
ident complained. There was a general murmur 
against Grant, and influence enough was brought to 
bear against him to have overwhelmed any common 
man. I pause in astonishment and wonder when I 
think that he did not turn in disgust from the grand 
enterprise. The people, the generals, the politicians 
were maligning him ; even the good'and patient pres- 
ident was dissatisfied, and put him on probation, 
rather than strengthened public confidence in him. 
Halleck, as generous now as he had been cynical be- 
fore, mildly expressed his confidence that Grant would 
do all that was possible to open the Mississippi. Even 
the rebels, satisfied with the strength of their Gibral- 
tar, contemptuously dared their persistent foe, and 



212 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

derided him for his failures. They jeeringly hoped 
he would not attempt to disturb the natural features 
of the globe. 

But Grant said never a word in his own defence ; 
he only kept his eye on the prize, and declared that 
he would yet take Vicksburg. He smoked his cigar, 
studied his maps, listened to the reports of spies and 
others who brought him information ; but he deigned 
not a word of reply to the slanders in the newspaper, 
or to those which were carried to the ears of men in 
power. He neither authorized nor permitted any of 
his friends to speak for him. He knew that truth was 
mighty, and must prevail ; and confident of the recti- 
tude of his own motives, of the purity of his own life, 
he could afford to let results, rather than windy ha- 
rangues, approve him and his conduct before the 
country. I marvel that he was not overwhelmed, 
when I consider the weight of influence brought to 
bear against him ; that he had the moral courage to 
stand up before that storm of obloquy and complaint. 
I cannot help adducing a few of the evil traditions of 
the day, to show how cruelly he was abused. 

A lady in Memphis lamented the drunken habits of 
General Grant, declaring that she had seen him carous- 
ing with two boon companions, so tipsy that he was 
obliged to steady himself by holding on to a chair ; 
that when he spoke to her, in answer to her petition, 
his speech was thick and incoherent! She added that 
the general was ashamed to see her the next day, and 
sent his surgeon to attend to her business. A gentle- 
man who listened to her statements immediately in- 
formed her that, as one of the a boon companions'* 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 213 

to whom she alluded, he had dined with the general 
that day, had spent three hours in his presence, and 
was with him when she entered. He was confident 
that Grant had drank nothing stronger than Missis- 
sippi water, and that he was perfectly sober and clear- 
headed during the interview. 

A letter from a respectable and reliable Union man 
in the West was sent to a newspaper office for publi- 
cation, alleging that, on a certain occasion, General 
Grant and his staff went from Cairo to Springfield in 
the special car of the president of the Illinois Central 
Railroad, that on the way all the party got drunk, and 
Grant was the drunkest of all. It so happened that 
the president alluded to was present in the office 
when the letter was received. He promptly pro- 
nounced it a malignant falsehood. He had taken 
charge of the party himself, and provided the special 
car, because it contained conveniences for eating, 
sleeping, and working. Dinner was provided, and 
wine was served for such as used it, but Grant drank 
tea only ; to his certain knowledge, he tasted no wine 
or liquor, and nobody was drunk on the car. 

Grant, in the winter following the Corinth cam- 
paign, worn out with watching, anxiety, and continued 
activity, lay sick at a hotel in Memphis. His wife 
was with him, and was much concerned about the 
state of his health. One morning she joined the ladies 
in the parlor, seeming very much depressed. She 
said the surgeon had just been to see Mr. Grant, as 
she called him, and declared that he would not be 
able to go much farther if the patient did not stimu- 
late. " And I cannot persuade him to do so," she 



214 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

added. " He says he shall not die, and will not taste 
a drop of liquor on any consideration." In less than 
a week he was on his way to Vicksburg. 

On board of the headquarters boat at Milliken's 
Bend, Grant was studying his maps and plans in the 
ladies' cabin, wholly absorbed in the mighty thought 
of planning a campaign. He heeded nothing that 
transpired around him, and no one ventured to inter- 
rupt him. For hours he sat in this thoughtful mood, 
and his friends feared that his mental labors would 
overwhelm his physical frame. McPherson at last 
had the temerity to speak to him, and presenting a 
glass of whiskey, invited him to join the party in a 
few toasts, to shake off the burden upon his mind. 

" Mac, you know that your whiskey will not help 
me to think," he replied, looking up with a smile. 
" Give me half a dozen of the best cigars you can 
find, and if the ladies will excuse me for smoking, I 
think by the time I have finished them, I shall have 
this job pretty nearly planned." 

He continued his labor ; the lines on his face deep- 
ened again ; the company left him smoking and 
brooding over his maps and plans ; but not a drop of 
liquor passed his lips. 

" I have some fine brandy on the boat," said a gen- 
tleman to him during the operations at Vicksburg, 
when Grant seemed to be exhausted by his cares and 
his labors ; " I will send you a case or two of it," 

" I am greatly obliged to you," replied the gen&ral ; 
" but I do not use the article. I have a big job 
on hand, and though I know I shall win, I know 
I must do it with a cool head. Send the liquor 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 215 

you intend for me to my hospital in the rear. I 
don't think a little will hurt the poor fellows down 
there." 

None for himself, strained in mind and muscle by 
cares and toils that would have overcome any other 
man ; but a blessed thought for the poor wounded 
ones whom he had led to victory over the couch of 
pain and death ! 

At a celebration of Washington's birthday before 
Vicksburg, the company, of whom Grant was one, 
indulged freely in champagne, drinking patriotic 
toasts, suggested by the day. The general pushed 
aside a glass' of the sparkling beverage intended for 
his use, and took up a glass of Mississippi water. 

" This suits the matter in hand," said he, glancing 
at the opaque fluid in the glass. " Drink this toast : 
God gave us Lincoln and Liberty : let us fight for 
both." 

President Lincoln quaintly hinted his disbelief in 
the popular rumors of Grant's intemperance, when, 
after the battle of Shiloh, he said, " I wish all our 
generals would drink Grant's whiskey." 

Before Vicksburg Grant stood alone. The govern- 
ment and the people were more than doubtful of the 
result. McClernand, Hunter, Fremont, and McClel- 
lan were mentioned as his successors. Senators and 
representatives urged Grant's removal, and one of his 
corps commanders was plotting for his pla"ce. Still 
he was struggling for success, while friends wavered, 
and enemies cried out against him. To his heavy load 
of cares and trials was added this heaviest burden of 
all — the dread of being removed before he could carry 



2T6 our standard-bearer, or 

out the great design which had been born in his busy 
brain. 

This great design set at nought all the formulas of 
the military schools, and was in violation of all the 
known laws of strategy ; but it was not a new idea. 
Long before canals and operations, in accordance 
w T ith the recognized rules of warfare, had been dis- 
carded as impracticable, he had cherished it as a last 
resort. The military engineers of the Confederacy 
were at least the equals, as scientific men, of those 
of the Union. With ever}' means and material in 
abundance, they had fortified Vicksburg on the most 
approved plans, and, aided by the immense natural 
advantages of the position, had succeeded in building 
up a "Gibraltar" which could not be captured. To 
them the issue was no less than the very existence of 
the Confederacy ; for, cut off from its supplies in 
Texas, its conquest was only a question of time. 
These engineers made sure that they had not deceived 
themselves. They piled up defences, and extended 
their batteries, until Gibraltar and Sevastopol were 
beggared in their strength in comparison with Vicks- 
burg. 

Doubtless, measured by the ordinary rules of mili- 
tary security, and by the ability of any force governed 
by the recognized canons of warfare, the Confederate 
engineers were fully justified in their perfect confi- 
dence. All the communications behind Vicksburg 
were in their hands. No base of supplies could be 
established below or in the rear of the stronghold. 
Impenetrable swamps and morasses defended it 
above, for they afforded no resting-place whereon an 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 21 7 

army could stand. The fortified heights of Walnut 
Hills frowned for miles above the submerged lands on 
the Yazoo. The whole strength of the Rebellion was 
in the rear of the city, and armies could be rushed in 
upon a hostile force gathered there, by the railroads. 
To any other man than Grant it would have been a 
hopeless task ; but he set at nought the rules of war 
under which Vicksburg was safe. 

He announced his plan to his generals. They were 
startled. All opposed it. He intended to march 
through a portion of Louisiana to a point on the Mis- 
sissippi, below Vicksburg, cross the river, and strike 
the Gibraltar in the rear. The gunboats were to run 
by the batteries, and assist in the operations below. 
The scheme was full of peril. To transport the army 
below Vicksburg was to separate it from any base of 
supplies ; in short, to cut his own communications, to 
place himself in just the situation which the rebels 
would have selected for him. He did not call a coun- 
cil of war, and argue the question with his generals ; 
he simply made up his mind to do it. Sherman, 
Logan, McPherson, Wilson, all opposed the plan 
when it came to their knowledge. 

Sherman, his cherished friend, his indomitable sup- 
porter in whatever he did, whether he agreed or not 
with his chief, declared that the only way to take 
Vicksburg was by going back to Memphis, and fol- 
lowing up the movement which they had attempted 
the preceding autumn. But Grant was confident that 
a backward movement would be fatal to himself, that 
the country would not endure anything that looked 
like another reverse, and he adhered to his own plan. 



2l8 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Sherman then wrote out a formal paper, setting forth 
the advantages of his own plan very ably, and in close 
accord with all military rules, and sent it to Grant's 
chief of staff. It was given to the general, and he 
read it carefully, and then put it in his trousers 
pocket. As Sherman had requested in the paper, 
he made no reply to the argument ; in fact, never 
mentioned it. Weeks after, when prominent men in 
the army gave Sherman the credit of the plan, he 
stated these facts. 

The disapproval of his ablest generals could not 
deter Grant from his purpose. Even Sherman, as 
careful of the reputation of his chief as of the glory 
of the cause he had espoused, failed to shake his in- 
flexible will. The army was marched and ferried 
from Milliken's Bend to De Shroons' Landing, three 
or four miles below Grand Gulf. The gunboats, with 
a fleet of barges laden with provisions for the troops, 
ran the gantlet of the Vicksburg batteries with com- 
paratively slight loss. Such a bold movement ap- 
palled the crews of the transports, and only a few of 
them were willing to undergo the exposure. But 
Grant appealed to the army, wherein were to be 
found the representatives of every trade and profes- 
sion. And engineers, firemen, pilots, and deck hands 
were superabundantly supplied. Through the rain 
of shot and shell they passed, and the army and the 
navy were gathered together again in the enemy's 
country. A new era in the campaign had been in- 
augurated. 

Porter bombarded Grand Gulf without success, but 
he ran by its batteries, and was in readiness to pro- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2 1 9 

tect the transports, in which the army was to be 
conveyed across the river. The troops were em- 
barked, and it was intended to proceed down the 
river until high ground should be found for the land- 
ing. A negro gave information that a good road led 
from Bruinsburg, ten miles below Grand Gulf, to the 
interior. At this point, therefore, the troops were 
landed April 30. The army was in the State of 
Mississippi, with only very scanty means of obtain- 
ing supplies from above Vicksburg. Three days' ra- 
tions were served out to the men, upon which they 
were required to subsist for five days. 

The movement was intended in the beginning as a 
surprise to the enemy, and was fully proved to be 
such. There were two rebel armies to be dealt with 
— that of Pemberton, in and around Vicksburg, and 
that of Joe Johnston, at Jackson, the capital of the 
state, fifty miles distant. The object was to get be- 
tween these two forces, and prevent them from effect- 
ing a junction. The national army was in hot haste, 
and Grant's struggles to gain a moment of time are 
full of interest. Red tape was cut, forms were dis- 
pensed with, and the meagre supplies of the army were 
hurried forward with the utmost despatch. 

On the 1st of May, Grant attacked and defeated 
the enemy at Port Gibson, the first point which dis- 
puted his passage to the interior, before reinforce- 
ments could be sent from Grand Gulf, capturing six 
guns and six hundred and fifty prisoners. 

While these operations were in progress, General 
Grant had organized the celebrated raid of Grier- 
son, which passed through the rebel country from 



220 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

La Grange to Baton Rouge, spreading consternation 
on every side. Sherman, who had not yet come 
down from Milliken's Bend, also made a demon- 
stration in favor of the movement at Haines's Bluff, 
which prevented troops from being sent down to 
Grand Gulf. 

In this desperate enterprise, hardly more than wag- 
ons enough to transport the ammunition could be 
allowed. No tents or baggage could be carried, 
but the men submitted without a murmur to the 
hardships and privations incident to a hurried march 
in an enemy's country. Grant stood on the same 
level in this respect as the humblest soldier. His 
entire baggage for six days was a tooth-brush ! He 
had neither a clean shirt, an overcoat, nor a blanket ; 
no horse, orderly, or camp chest. He slept upon 
the ground, with no covering but the sky and the 
stars, and lived on soldier's rations. 

The battle for Grand Gulf and the base of supplies 
was fought at Port Gibson. The place was evacu- 
ated, and Porter took possession of it. The rebels 
were pursued to the Big Black River. The position 
was secure, and Grant had time to breathe for a mo- 
ment. He visited Grand Gulf, went on board of a 
gunboat, borrowed a shirt, and sat up till midnight 
writing despatches. He attended personally to all the 
details of the campaign. He ordered Sherman to 
come forward, giving him the minutiae of rations to 
be brought. 

It had been his purpose, up to this time, as it had 
been the expectation of the government, that he 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 22 1 

would secure a position below Vicksburg, open the 
river to Port Hudson, and cooperate with General 
Banks in the reduction of that important point. After 
its capture, with the Mississippi open to supply the 
two armies, they were to unite and besiege Vicksburg. 
But he had made some progress, and was ready to 
fight the battle on which the safety of the stronghold 
would depend. He knew that Johnston was on his 
wa y to Jackson, and that reinforcements were pour- 
ing into that place from the south. But Banks could 
not reach Port Hudson till the ioth of May, and 
the delay would weaken the national force while 
it strengthened that of the rebels. He decided finally 
to pursue his own plan, and without any hesitation he 
pushed on towards Jackson. 

Cutting loose from his base of supplies, he marched 
into the interior, subsisting his army on the country. 
Sherman, with his corps, had joined him, but this 
veteran was fearful of the result of the audacious 
movement. Grant did not inform the general-in- 
chief of his plan, and the government was appalled 
at his boldness. Grant was alone, but he was self- 
possessed and sanguine. 

The governor of Mississippi was howling with 
rage, and begging the "glorious patriots" to hurry 
to the defence of the state. Steadily the grand army 
marched in two columns towards the capital. At 
Raymond a sharp battle was fought, but the enemy 
was routed, and the victorious column pursued them 
to Jackson, where the rebels were again defeated. 
The capital was captured, the railroad destroyed, 



222 



OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



bridges, factories, arsenals, everything which could 
be of service to the foe in the war was blown up 
or burned. Grant, with his staff, rode into the town ; 
his son, then thirteen years old, galloped ahead of the 
column into the capital. 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 223 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Wherei?z Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious 
Soldier through the Campaign in Mississippi to 
the Siege and Surrender of Vicksburg. 

I AM continually prompted to pause in my nar- 
rative, and dilate upon the splendid conceptions 
of Grant, as I see him marching triumphantly over 
the strongholds of the Rebellion ; but the grand facts 
themselves are enough to overwhelm the imagination. 
Never was so bold a scheme conceived on a scale so 
grand ; never was one more brilliantly executed. Be- 
hold the conqueror issuing his mandates from the State 
House of the rebel capital of Mississippi ! Sternly 
and resolutely he cuts away the veins and arteries of 
the Rebellion itself, as he tears up railroads and de- 
molishes mills and public buildings. He is in the very 
midst of the powers of treason, but he is not dismayed. 
Far away from his supplies, the rebel stores feed the 
loyal troops. Dismay and demoralization radiated 
from his headquarters ; and, astounded as the leaders 
of the Rebellion were, they failed to realize the full 
extent of the disaster which had befallen them. 

Grant had struck the heavy blow in this direction, 
and, gathering up his forces, he retraced his steps, 
leaving ruin and desolation behind him. He did not 



224 OUR STANDARD-BEARER. OR 

carry on the war on peace principles. Months before 
he had solved the problem of subjugation. He had 
gone into the conflict as others did, with an inadequate 
idea of the work to be accomplished, believing that a 
few national victories would settle all the questioiis at 
issue. But the war was to be a death-struggle. The 
rebels manifested their hate and spite to a degree never 
before exhibited by any people. They declared that 
they never would submit, and their deeds did not belie 
their words. The question was not to be considered 
as settled when the national government had demon- 
strated that it was the stronger party of the two. 
The " last ditch," and a grave in the Gulf of Mexico, 
was the howl of the Confederacy. The contest was 
to be continued not only while large armies could be 
held together and subsisted, but by guerrillas and par- 
tisans burrowing in the mountains after all hope and 
all other resources had failed. 

It was necessary to meet this view with one of cor- 
responding severity. Grant realized the situation. It 
was his purpose to destroy the armies of the Rebellion, 
and all the material with which armies could be sup- 
plied. He did his work thoroughly, but it was a work 
of humanity, a saving of life and of treasure. He took 
a statesman's view of the situation ; his solution of the 
great problem was the only one which could save the 
country, and which could confine the war within a 
reasonable period of time. The rebels were courting 
a war of extermination, but Grant's policy broke the 
spirit of the people, if not of their leaders. 

The victorious general slept in the house in Jackson 
which Johnston had occupied the preceding night. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 225 

While the army was at the capital, an act of poetic 
justice was done, though in violation of orders. A 
number of Union prisoners had been conveyed by rail- 
road through Jackson some time before. The cattle 
cars, in which they were transported, stopped in front 
of the Confederate Hotel, and the thirsty captives 
begged of its inmates " a cup of cold water only." 
It was refused, .with scurrilous jeers and revilings. 
These prisoners had been exchanged, and were now 
in Grant's conquering army. They set fire to the 
hotel, and burned it to the ground : the tables were 
turned, and the indignity was avenged. 

Johnston retreated towards Canton, and sent de- 
spatches to Pemberton, in which he suggested to him 
the necessity of cutting off Grant's supplies from the 
Mississippi. Grant had already cut himself off from 
his base, and was living upon the enemy. lie also 
intimates that it is desirable to "beat" Grant, if he 
was compelled to fall back for the want of supplies. 
The rebel general was a long way behind the times, 
and, like many others, had entirely mistaken his man. 
He moved over to the north, intending to effect a 
junction with Pemberton ; but the latter defeated the 
plan by disobeying his orders. 

Grant, having obtained accurate knowledge of Pem- 
berton's position, pushed forward to the battle, which 
was impending. Johnston was in his rear, and it was 
necessary to use the utmost haste, in order to fight 
them in detail. The enemy was strongly posted on 
Baker's Creek, the left of the line resting on Cham- 
pion's Hill, from which his artillery commanded the 
plains below. The national forces, nearly exhausted 
15 



226 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

by hard marching, but still buoyant and uncomplain- 
ing, approached by three roads, which converged at 
Edwards's Station. 

As our gallant army approached, the rebels on the 
hill, seventy feet above the plain, opened fire, with shot 
and^shell, from its bald summit, while a deadly fire 
of musketry blazed from the forest, in which the foe 
was concealed. The hill was the key* of the position, 
and Hovey pushed on, forcing the enemy back, till he 
had captured eleven guns and three hundred prisoners. 
But the rebels massed their men in front of him, and 
drove him slowly and doggedly back, until the ground 
gained was lost again. 

This was the crisis of the battle ; but Grant himself 
was on the hill, in a position where he could see all 
that transpired. His plan always was to take advan- 
tage of a favorable turn to repair the mischief of an 
unfavorable one. He sent a brigade to restore the 
equilibrium, and Hovey held his ground. McPherson 
had stationed a battery where it was mowing down 
the rebels in swaths, and they made an attempt to cap- 
ture it, but were repulsed with severe loss. Logan 
was sweeping all before him. 

Again the foe drove Hovey, whose battalions were 
worn out by an incessant fight of three hours, and 
were also out of ammunition. Grant had been hurry- 
ing up McClernand all day ; but still he did not appear. 
The tide of battle seemed to have set against the 
national army ; but this was always the hour when 
its. heroic commander was more than himself. The 
delay of McClernand galled him, and deranged his 
plans, but could not defeat him. He ordered McPher- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 227 

son to move on the enemy's right flank, and the contest 
was renewed with redoubled vigor. Logan marched 
upon the enemy's left. These dispositions, and a sharp 
attack, broke the rebels, and they gave way the third 
time. Logan's movement nearly to the rear of the 
rebel line, had startled Pemberton, and he made haste 
to save his line of retreat. The Union troops pressed 
on, and the bloody battle of Champion's Hill was 
won. It had lasted six hours, and our loss was twenty- 
five hundred in killed, wounded, and missing. The 
enemy lost thirty guns, and six thousand men in killed, 
wounded, and prisoners. It was the severest battle 
of the campaign, and reflects a brilliant lustre upon 
the national arms. So fierce w r as the struggle, that 
the soldiers christenecl the bloody height, where so 
many had fallen, the Hill of Death. 

The pursuit of the fleeing rebels was continued until 
long after dark, Grant and his staff being at the head 
of the column. In their enthusiasm they outsped the 
advance of the army. Finding the situation unsafe, 
they retraced their steps, and the victorious general 
slept upon the porch of a house which was used as a 
rebel hospital, disturbed only by the groans of the 
wounded and the dying within. 

That night came to Grant the order of the general- 
in-chief, directing him to return to the Mississippi, 
and cooperate with Banks against Port Hudson. Of 
course it had been written without a knowledge of 
the facts. The government had been alarmed at his 
temerity, and expected to hear that he was crushed 
in the embrace of the rebel armies, which beset him 
on both sides. But the campaign had been fought 



228 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

and won ; and to obey the letter of the order would 
have been to disobey its spirit. By the boldness of 
his conception and the rapidity of his execution, he 
had effectually prevented the junction of the armies 
of Pemberton and Johnston. 

Sherman left Jackson with his corps on the morn- 
ing of the battle of Champion's Hill, hurried forward 
by an order from Grant. He reached Bolton the 
same day, and there heard of the victory. He was 
ordered to cross the Big Black at Bridgeport, either to 
turn the enemy's flank or to move up on Haines's Bluff, 
as circumstances might dictate, for by this time it was 
desirable to establish a base of supplies. 

The main column pushed on towards Vicksburg, 
and found the rebels posted on a bridge over the Big 
Black. They had a line of intrenchments, defended 
by a garrison of four thousand men, with twenty guns. 
As soon as the pursuing army came up with this for- 
midable obstacle in its path, the line was formed, and 
a heavy fire opened upon the works, which were 
finally carried by storm. Our men fought bravely, 
and the Confederate line broke and fled like sheep. 
In their terror the rebels on the opposite side of the 
river set their end of the bridge .on fire, before half 
their force had crossed. The demoralized wretches 
fled to the river, and attempted to escape by swim- 
ming. The fire of the cannon was turned upon them, 
and the stream was crimsoned with their blood. 
Seventeen hundred and fifty prisoners, eighteen guns, 
and five standards were captured in this lively battle. 

Bridging the river, Grant pushed on towards Vicks- 
burg, uniting with Sherman, who came by a more 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 229 

northerly route. The two generals rode together to 
the farthest height, which looked down upon the 
Yazoo. The high ground they had longed to possess 
had been reached, and it was to them the promised 
land. They were elated at the prospect, and Sher- 
man acknowledged that, until this moment, he had 
not deemed the movement a success. 

In just twenty days Grant had marched over two 
hundred miles, fought five distinct battles, captured 
eighty-eight pieces of ordnance, and deprived the 
enemy of the services of thirteen thousand soldiers. 
He had destroyed the railroad, captured Jackson and 
Grand Gulf. Never was so brief a campaign produc- 
tive of such successes. As Sherman congratulated him 
upon the splendid results he had achieved, he quietly 
smoked his cigar, but made no vain-glorious reply — 
no reply at all. 

Vicksburg was immediately invested by a line which 
extended from the river above to the river below the 
town. The coveted base of supplies was obtained. 
Pemberton had thirty thousand men — a number fully 
equal to that of the besiegers — with two hundred 
cannon. On the iSth of May Johnston advised him 
that Vicksburg could not be held without Haines's 
Bluff, and recommended him to save his troops by 
withdrawing ; but Pemberton decided, with the advice 
of his officers, to remain. 

Grant's men were flushed with victory, and desired 
to storm the works. They were permitted to do so 
as soon as the line of investment was completed. A 
heavy attack was made all along the intrenchments, 
but it was not crowned with success. 



23O OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

The people of Vicksburg were requested to leave 
the town by the commander of the post : they de- 
clined to abandon their homes ; but the heavy rain of 
shot and shell from the national gunboats compelled 
them to burrow in the sides of the hills for security, 
and families lived for weeks in these caves. Pember- 
ton hoped to receive assistance from Johnston, who 
was organizing another army at Canton. The knowl- 
edge of this fact prompted Grant to order another 
assault on the 21st of May. His men were full of 
fight, and in this respect he was generally ready to 
gratify them. The most elaborate preparations were 
made for the great event, and as the prelude to the 
assault, the guns of the batteries and of the fleet in the 
river rained a deluge of shot and shell upon the city 
and its works. The thundering of guns shook the 
solid earth, and the place was girt with fire. At ten 
o'clock, after the bombardment had continued for 
several hours, the assault was made. The entire 
army pushed forward, and, though prodigies of valor 
were jDerformed, the result was a failure. The 
strength of the works was too great to be carried by 
storm ; but the spirit of the soldiers was unabated. 

Grant was obliged not only to press forward the 
siege vigorously, but to keep a lookout upon Johnston 
in his rear. He was reenforced, so that by the mid- 
dle of June he had seventy-five thousand troops, one 
half of whom formed the line in the trenches, while 
the other half constituted an army of observation, to 
watch the movements of the enemy in the rear. 
Grant was untiring in his labors, and felt that he had 
the place already. He had decided to save his men 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 23 I 

by regular siege operations. But the glorious day 
was at hand. 

On the morning of the 3d of July, a white flag was 
displayed on the rebel works, and two officers came 
out, announcing that they were the bearers of a sealed 
communication from General Pemberton to General 
Grant. They were conducted to the most convenient 
headquarters, and the commander of the Union army 
notified of the fact. Pemberton proposed an armistice 
for the purpose of making terms for the surrender of 
Vicksburg. He stated that he submitted the proposi- 
tion in order to save the effusion of blood, which must 
otherwise be shed to a frightful extent, for he felt fully 
able to maintain his position for an indefinite period. 

General Grant replied, by letter, that the effusion of 
blood could be ended at any time by the unconditional 
surrender of the city and garrison. He complimented 
the endurance and courage of the defenders of Vicks- 
burg, and assured the rebel general that they should 
be treated with respect as prisoners of war ; but he 
had no other terms than unconditional surrender. 

General Bo wen, the bearer of the letter, desired to 
see General Grant, who promptly declined to meet 
him, but consented to see Pemberton himself at 
three o'clock in the afternoon. The messengers re- 
turned to the city, and hostilities were immediately 
resumed, and continued till noon. 

At three o'clock Pemberton, attended by his mes- 
sengers of the morning, came to the appointed place, 
in front of McPherson's line. The two commanders 
met under the shade of a huge oak, within two hun- 
dred feet of the rebel line. The works on both sides 



232 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

were crowded with unarmed men, gazing eagerly nt 
the unwonted scene between these lines. The two 
high officers shook hands, and the other officers were 
formally introduced to each other. 

" General Grant, I meet you to inquire what terms 
of capitulation will be allowed to me," said Pem- 
berton. 

" Those which have been expressed in my letter of 
this morning," replied Grant. 

" Unconditional surrender ! " exclaimed Pemberton, 
haughtily. 

" Unconditional surrender," added Grant, quietly. 

" Never, so long as I have a man left," protested 
the rebel general. " I will fight ! If this is all, the 
conference may terminate, and hostilities will be im- 
mediately resumed." 

" Very well," answered Grant, quietly, as he turned 
away. 

General Bowen proposed that two of the subordi- 
nates present should confer together, and suggest 
terms. Grant did not object, but declined to be 
bound by any agreement of his officers, reserving it 
to himself to decide upon the terms. Smith and 
Bowen retired to consult together, while Grant and 
Pemberton walked up and down under the tree, 
engaged in conversation. 

The subordinates returned to the tree, and Bowen 
proposed that the Vicksburg garrison should march 
out with the honors of war. carrying their muskets 
and field guns, but leaving their heavy artillery, which 
it was not convenient for them to carry. Grant 
smiled at the proposition, and declined it without any 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 233 

hesitation. It was finally agreed that Grant should 
send his terms to Pemberton before ten o'clock that 
night, and that hostilities should be suspended till that 
time. 

Grant went to his quarters, and, for the first time, 
called together a council of war — not to determine 
how an attack should be made, but how a conquered 
foe should be surrendered. With the countenance of 
all his officers but one, Grant submitted the terms, 
which were, that the national troops should take pos- 
session of Vicksburg ; the rebel army should be pa- 
roled, the officers and men to retain their private 
property, the troops to march out as soon as the 
necessary papers had been signed. 

After some slight variations the terms were ac- 
cepted on the morning of the 4th of July ; and thus 
one of the most glorious events of the war occurred 
on the anniversary of the national independence. 



234 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken sums up the magnifi- 
cent Results of the Capture of Vichsburg, and 
starts with the illustrious Soldier for Chattanoo- 
ga, after his Appointment to the Command of the 
combined Armies of the Temtessee, the Cumber- 
land, and the Ohio. 

VICKSBURG had fallen ! The nation was thrilled 
by the news. Grant's name rang throughout 
the land. The loyal people blessed him for the mighty 
deed he had done. The news flashed through the 
country, kindling up a joyous excitement, such as had 
not been known since the commencement of the war. 
The boasted stronghold of the refols, , 4^ veritable 
Gibraltar of the West, had crumble^jnjJBen. Pos- 
sibilities became facts. The dcclii-i^fe^WB: Southern 
Confederacy had commenced. 

Vicksburg had fallen ! The news seemed too good 
to be true, and the waiting patriots of the nation trem- 
bled lest the vision of peace which it foreshadowed 
should be dissolved ; but the telegraph flashed full 
confirmation, and every loyal heart beat firmer and 
truer than ever before. 

Vicksburg had fallen ! While the nation raised a 
paean of grateful thanksgiving for the victory, and 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2^ 

hailed Grant as the mightiest man of the Rebellion, 
the victorious general seemed hardly to be elated by 
his brilliant success, or to be conscious that he had 
achieved anything worthy of note. He smoked his 
cigar, calm and unmoved by the tempest of applause 
which began to reach him from the far North. It was 
hard to tell which was the more amazing — the mag- 
nitude of the victory or the modesty of the victor. 

On the 4th of July — hallowed anew by this crown- 
ing victory — the rebel army marched out of the works 
it had so bravely defended, stacked their arms, and 
laid down their colors, returning prisoners of war. 
Thirty-one thousand six hundred men were surren- 
dered to Grant, including two thousand one hundred 
and fifty-three officers, fifteen of whom were generals. 
One hundred and seventy-two cannons were captured 
with the place. It was the largest capture of men 
and guns ever made, not only in this war, but in the 
history of the world. Ulm surrendered to Napoleon, 
with thirty thousand men and sixty guns ; but this 
event transcended the capitulation of Ulm, which 
Alison declares was a spectacle unparalleled in mod- 
ern warfare ; more men, and nearly three times as 
many guns, were taken at Vicksburg. 

Grant and his staff, at the head of Logan's division, 
rode into the city, where the rebel soldiers gazed curi- 
ously at their conqueror, but manifested no disrespect ; 
wherein they exhibited a more chivalrous spirit than 
did their officers. The general rode to the headquar- 
ters where the principal rebel officers were assembled. 
No one extended to him any act of courtesy, or be- 
haved with even common decency. As no one came 



236 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

out to receive him, he dismounted, and walked up to 
the porch where Pemberton and his high-toned gen- 
erals sat. They saluted him coldly, but no one prof- 
fered him a chair. By the grace of Grant they wore 
their swords ; but not even this fact spurred them up 
to the simplest act of courtesy. 

Pemberton himself was as crabbed and sour as a 
boor whose hen-coop had been robbed. His manner 
was morose and ungentlemanly, and his speech cold 
and curt. At last one of the party, with higher no- 
tions of chivalry than his companions, brought a chair 
for Grant. The day was hot and dusty, and the general 
asked for a glass of water. He was rudely informed 
that he could find water in the house. He entered, 
and searched the premises till a negro appeared, who 
supplied his want. Returning to the porch, he found 
his seat had been taken ; and, during the rest of the 
interview, which lasted half an hour, he remained 
standing, in the company of these conquered rebels, 
who kept their seats in his presence ! 

In the light of this remarkable interview, I am in- 
clined to believe that my friend Pollard, who denounces 
Pemberton as an imbecile, was more than half right 
in his estimate of the man ; for no decent person, 
under such circumstances, would have been guilty 
of such flagrant discourtesy, as ridiculous as it was 
gross. 

Grant was a Christian. He^ did not even resent 
this incivility. " If thine enemy hunger, feed him." 
Grant did so, literally ; for at this interview Pember- 
ton requested him to supply his garrison with rations. 
He did not say, " Let the dead bury their dead," as 




Grant and Pemberton in Vicksburg. — Page 236. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 237 

less magnanimous men than he might have done, after 
the contemptuous impoliteness of the rebels. Grant 
immediately consented; but probably there was not 
"•chivalry" enough left in the bantam general to feel 
the heat of the " coals of fire upon his head." 

Grant notified Banks, at Port Hudson, of the cap- 
ture of Vicksburg, and offered to send him an army 
corps of " as good troops as ever trod American soil ; 
no better are found on any other." Four days after 
the surrender, Port Hudson followed the example of 
Vicksburg. This event virtually completed the con- 
quest of treason in the West. The Father of Waters 
rolled " unvexed to the sea," in the expressive lan- 
guage of President Lincoln. To sum up the results, 
in the words of Pollard, who is not particularly ami- 
able at this point of his struggles through " The Lost 
Cause," — " It was the loss of one of the largest armies 
which the Confederates had in the field ; the decisive 
event of the Mississippi Valley ; and the severance 
of the Southern Confederacy." 

Proudly would I linger over this auspicious event ; 
but the illustrious soldier had done his work', and the 
deed speaks for itself. Flis name was written in the 
annals of his country, never more to be effaced, even 
if he added not another laurel to his wreath of glory. 
He had practically ended the war on the Mississippi. 
On the day before, the great battle of Gettysburg cul- 
minated in victory, and the army of Lee was driven, 
shattered and weakened, from Pennsylvania. flic 
tidings of these two great events spread through the 
land together, and created universal joy. Almost for 
the first time in two years, the loyal cause looked 



23S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

really hopeful. The Rebellion had been struck heavily 
in the East and in the West. 

President Lincoln manifested his high appreciation 
•of the conduct of Grant in the following character- 
istic letter : — 

"Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1863. 
" Major General Grant. 

" My dear General : I do not remember that you 
and I ever met personally. I write this now as a 
grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable 
service you have done the country. I wish to say a 
word further. When you first reached the vicinity 
of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you 
finally did — march the troops across the neck, run 
the batteries with the transports, and thus go below ; 
and I never had any faith, except a general hope that 
you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedi- 
tion and the like could succeed. When you got below, 
and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I 
thought you* should go down the river and join Gen- 
eral Banks ; and when you turned northward, east 
of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now 
wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you 
were right and I was wrong. 

A. Lincoln." 

Halleck was almost as magnanimous as the presi- 
dent, and sent Grant a very handsome letter of con- 
gratulation. 

For the brilliant campaign of Vicksburg, Grant 
was made a major-general in the regular army. He 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 239 

promptly recommended Sherman and McPherson for 
promotion to the rank of brigadier-general in the reg- 
ular army, setting forth, in solid, compact arguments, 
the merits of these distinguished generals. These 
promotions were promptly made, as well as others 
which Grant suggested. 

Sherman was sent out with a strong force to drive 
Johnston from the state, which he did most effectually, 
capturing Jackson a second time in his operations. 
On his return, the army of the Mississippi was broken 
up, and sent to Banks, Schofield, and Burnside. But 
Grant had no opportunity to rest upon his laurels ; 
indeed, he wanted none. He gave his attention to 
the multiplicity of topics imposed upon him by the 
needs of his department. He threw all the weight 
of his position and influence into the task of raising 
and organizing negro troops. It was his intention to 
use them to garrison the posts on the river, believing 
that they would make good heavy artillerists. 

He was among the first to acknowledge the value 
of this class of troops, and to award to them the praise 
which their valor in the field merited. He went far- 
ther than this ; for he proposed to protect them from 
the operation of the savage policy of the rebels in 
regard to them. He intimated to General Dick Tay- 
lor that if he hung black soldiers he should retaliate ; 
but the rebel general repudiated any such policy. 

He discussed the question of trade with the enemy 
with Secretary Chase, and defended his views in oppo- 
sition to it with dignity and ability. The duties of 
his department required a degree of statesmanship in 
their handling which he was found to possess ; and 



240 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the affairs of his jurisdiction were skilfully and pru- 
dently administered. 

Previous to the separation of the grand army which 
had achieved the conquest of Vicksburg, Grant had 
proposed, and even urged, an expedition for the cap- 
ture of Mobile by the way of Lake Pontchartrain. 
But the general-in-chief deemed it best to " clean up" 
the territory which had been conquered, by driving 
out the rebel forces from Western Louisiana, Arkansas, 
and Missouri. The president declared that the enter- 
prise was " tempting," but recent events in Mexico 
rendered him desirous of establishing the national 
authority in Texas, so that no foreign foe could secure 
a foothold there ; and he left the project for Halleck 
to dispose of. Grant felt that the Union was losing a 
splendid opportunity, for he had no doubt that a blow 
struck by the Vicksburg veterans at Mobile, before the 
rebels recovered from the shock of present disasters, 
would be entirely successful. He had the force, and 
only desired a couple of gunboats to cover his land- 
ing. Probably, if he had been permitted to undertake 
the venture, he would have succeeded, and the war 
would have been curtailed at least one year. Judging 
from analogy, and from the skill and spirit of the man, 
I am confident he would have make a success of it. 
I cannot conceive of such a thing as Grant's failing in 
anything. He might have been temporarily checked 
and turned back — once, twice, thrice ; but he was 
absolutely sure to carry his point in the end. " Mr. 
Grant was a very obstinate man," as his good lady 
remarked. 

While Sherman was driving Johnston out of Mis- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 24I 

sissippi, Grant sent supplies of food and medicine to 
the enemy's sick at Raymond. If any man ever 
demonstrated the true spirit of Christianity, though 
without any display, Grant did so in his treatment of 
his own and his country's enemies. 

The Thirteenth Corps had been sent down to assist 
in the expedition up the Red River and into Texas. 
Grant was anxious to see Banks, in order to arrange 
a plan by which he might cooperate with him, and he 
went to New Orleans. While there he was severely 
injured by being thrown from his horse at a review. 
The animal was a strange one to him, and was fright- 
ened by a locomotive, and rushing against a vehicle, 
dragged his rider off. He was confined to his bed, 
and compelled to lie " flat on his back " for twenty 
days. As soon as he was able to be moved, he re- 
turned to Vicksburg, but was obliged to keep his bed 
until the latter part of September, though he attended 
to all the business of his department. 

During the summer Rosecrans had been operating 
in Tennessee and Northern Georgia, and had obtained 
possession of Chattanooga — the most important posi- 
tion between Richmond and the Mississippi. Bragg 
was manoeuvring to cut him oft' from Nashville, his 
base of supplies. Grant started large reinforcements, 
including Sherman's command, to the threatened 
point. On the 20th of September, Rosecrans was 
defeated, before anv of Grant's army reached him, in 
the heavy battle of Chickamauga, and compelled to 
retire to Chattanooga. His army was saved only by 
the address and bravery of General Thomas, who 
held his position in the face of an immensely superior 
16 



242 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

force. A delay of ten days in the delivery of Halleck's 
order to Grant prevented the latter from sending troops 
in season to be of service. 

Early in October Grant was directed, as soon as he 
was in condition to take the field, — for he was then 
able to move only on crutches, — to repair to Cairo, 
and report by telegraph. The order reached him at 
Columbus, and the next day, feeble as he was, he 
started for the point indicated, with his staff and 
headquarters. On his arrival he was instructed to 
meet an officer of the War Department in Louisville, 
Kentucky, to receive further orders. He started im- 
mediately by railroad, but at Indianapolis he met the 
secretary of war himself — Mr. Stanton. 

A new command, called forth by the emergency, 
had been created for General Grant — "The military 
division of the Mississippi," including all the territory 
south of the Ohio between the Alleghanies and the 
Mississippi, with the exception of that occupied by 
Banks. It comprised, besides his own department of 
the Tennessee, those of the Cumberland, under Rose- 
crans, and the Ohio, under Burnside, all of which 
were now placed under his command. Grant had 
suggested this step a year before, in order to insure 
harmonious operations. 

The secretary of war also carried two other orders 
with him, one continuing Rosecrans in his command 
of the army of the Cumberland, and the other remov- 
ing him, and putting General Thomas in his place. 
Grant was permitted to make his choice between the 
two, and without hesitation he preferred the latter. 
Mr. Stanton accompanied the commander of the new 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 243 

division to Louisville, where it was rumored that 
Rosecrans was actually preparing to abandon Chatta- 
nooga, so closely was he pressed by the rebels, and 
harassed by the cutting off of his supplies. Grant, by 
order of the secretary, immediately assumed his com- 
mand, telegraphing his order to Rosecrans, and assign- 
ing Thomas to the army of the Cumberland. He 
immediately took measures to prevent the apprehended 
calamity, desiring Thomas to hold Chattanooga at all 
hazards. The hero who had saved the entire army at 
Chickamauga replied at once in those memorable 
words which have been so often quoted, " I will hold 
the town till we starve." 

East Tennessee, that home of the tried and trusty 
patriots, who had been so long neglected, and who 
had suffered untold misery, had been occupied by the 
national troops, and was now held by Burnside. Its 
safety depended upon the operations in progress at 
Chattanooga, which was the key-point of the system 
of railroads radiating to the east and south. It was 
absolutely necessary for the success of the national 
arms to hold this place, not only on account of its 
immense strategic importance, but because nearly 
all the people of the mountain region in which it is 
situated were loyal. 

When Vicksburg fell, Bragg had been strengthened 
by the arrival of the troops which had been operating 
under Johnston in Grant's rear. But Rosecrans had 
outgeneraled Bragg by getting to the southward of 
him, and threatening his supplies, thus compelling 
him to abandon Chattanooga. Having been largely 
reenforced, the rebel general had beaten Rosecrans 



244 °UR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

at Chickamauga, and driven him into Chattanooga, 
where he had fortified himself, with the intention of 
holding the position. 

Three miles from the Tennessee was Missionary 
Ridge, a range of hills four hundred feet high, which 
Bragg made haste to occupy. West of the town was 
Lookout Mountain, twenty-two hundred feet high, and 
three miles distant. Under this mountain extended 
the Nashville Railroad, by which the national army 
received its supplies. Rosecrans deemed it necessary 
to abandon this commanding height, which Bragg i 
stantly seized. Planting his batteries upon it, he 
effectually held the country around it, and entirely cut 
off all supplies for Chattanooga, except such as could 
be sent by the mountain passes over sixty miles of 
rugged roads. Bragg drew his lines around .the place 
from the river above to the river below. 

Rosecrans's situation became desperate, for it was 
practically impossible to supply his troops by the 
mountain roads. The army was put on half rations, 
and three thousand sick and wounded were dying for 
the want of proper nourishment and medicines. Fod- 
der for the horses and mules could not be obtained, 
and ten thousand of them died. All the artillery 
horses were sent round through the mountains to 
Bridgeport, but one third of them perished on the 
way. In case of retreat, it would be necessary to 
abandon the artillery, for the want of animals to draw 
it. To add to the perils of the situation, the ammu- 
nition was nearly exhausted. Short of clothing, short 
of tents, short of food, the condition of the army was 
deplorable in the extreme. Heavy rains deluged the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 245 

earth, and the sufferings of the men were intense. It 
is not to be wondered at that Rosecrans was prepared 
to resort to so mild an expedient as abandoning the 
place. Bragg was waiting for starvation, cold, and 
intense suffering to fight his battle for him. He was 
unwilling to sacrifice a soldier in an assault, when 
Chattanooga was sure to fall under the weight of its 
own miseries. Only in Andersonville and on Belle 
Island were the sufferings of the troops surpassed. 

Such was the terrible condition of the army of the 
Cumberland when Grant started for the field of 
action. 



246 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken details the Means by 
which the illustrious Soldier relieved the Army 
of the Cumberland, and traces his Career to the 
glorious Victory of Chattanooga. 

THE stoutest heart would have been appalled at 
the situation in and around Chattanooga. 
Rosecrans had failed, and the army of the Cum- 
berland was "bottled up" in the town. Grant, still 
feeble, and unable to move without his crutches, was 
ordered to extricate the force from its desperate dilem- 
ma ; and not only to do this, but to save the place 
itself. One less resolute than he, or equally resolute, 
but less patriotic and devoted to the loyal cause, might 
well have exclaimed, " I pray thee have me excused ! " 
Disabled as he w T as, he might have pointed to his 
crutches, and let them speak for him. They were 
not only a good excuse, but a good reason for not 
going upon such a perilous errand. 

Could he have been borne at the head of the victo- 
rious veterans of Vicksburg, and gone into the be- 
leaguered and starved town to the musical tramp of 
a large army, it would have looked more hopeful. 
But this could not be. Sherman had been started 
from Memphis with a heavy force — the army of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



47 



Tennessee — to assist Rosecrans, and he was still 
struggling through the country, beset with trials and 
difficulties. Not with this faithful friend and this 
tried army could the crippled general march into 
Chattanooga. 

On the 20th of October, Grant started with only 
his staff for the imperilled point, and arrived at Nash- 
ville the same night. Even on his route, invalid as 
he was, he worked at the solution of the problem 
which had been given him to solve. He telegraphed 
to Burnside, foreshadowing his plans, and directing 
the operations of his subordinate. He requested Ad- 
miral Porter to send gunboats up the Tennessee to 
insure Sherman's safety, and to facilitate the passage 
of his supplies. To Thomas, in Chattanooga, he 
suggested the opening of the road to Bridgeport. 
Without having visited the scene of operations, he 
knew all about it, and was ready to grapple with the 
mighty difficulty. 

At Bridgeport, on the Tennessee, the general and 
his party took horses for Chattanooga. The roads 
were rifted and torn up by the deluge of rains which 
had poured down the mountain sides. Here and 
there the highway was but a narrow shelf on the 
steep mountain side, and the region was strewed with 
the wrecks of wagons, and the bodies of animals 
which had died on the route, or had been killed by 
being precipitated over the steep bluffs. At many 
points the roads were not in condition to admit of the 
passage of the party on horseback, and the animals 
were led over them ; Grant, still a cripple, was borne 
in the arms of his companions. 



248 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Thus journeyed the great commander to the front, 
issuing his mandates for the government of these 
armies, ordering up supplies, and indicating the 
means of forwarding them. I say, enthusiastically, 
that the spectacle of a man in his crippled condition, 
undertaking such an herculean task, controlling the 
minutest details, and moving forward confidently to 
retrieve the most desperate situation which the whole 
war presented, is sublime. I cannot fully express my 
admiration with any other term. 

It was dark, and the rain poured in torrents, when 
Grant reached Chattanooga. If he had not quailed 
at the prospect before, well might he then. The 
rebels, in greatly superior force, hemmed in the town, 
save on the north, where the ragged mountain steeps 
beyond the river were almost as forbidding as the 
closed-up lines of the enemy. The officers and men 
were sad, weary, and almost hopeless. Their sup- 
plies w r ere nearly exhausted, and there was little hope 
either in a battle or a retreat. To this scene of his 
future labors, the disabled and worn-out commander 
was introduced on his arrival. He did not despair ; 
he was the messenger of hope and ultimate triumph. 

On the night of his arrival he requested that Sher- 
man should be placed in command of the army of 
the Tennessee, and his wish was granted. Hooker's 
command from the army of the Potomac had been 
sent down to act with the army of the Cumberland, 
and was now at Bridgeport. The question of sup- 
plies was the first which engaged Grant's attention. 
Except the town of Chattanooga, the rebels held all 
the country south of the Tennessee, and frequently 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2J.O 

invaded the northern shore in cavalry raids, cutting 
off the Union supplies. A pontoon bridge was 
stretched across the river at Brown's Ferry, the 
boats, each carrying thirty men, being silently floated 
down the river unobserved by the rebel pickets. The 
operation was conducted in the night, and, being a 
complete success, a footing was gained on the south 
bank of the river below the town. 

The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad crossed 
the Tennessee at Bridgeport, where Hooker, with the 
Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, was located, and came 
up to Chattanooga through Lookout Valley, on the 
south side of the stream, which, being in the hands 
of the enemy, had cut off the supplies. Hooker was 
ordered to cross the river, and follow the railroad up 
to the valley. At Wauhatchie he encountered the 
rebels, but drove them before him, and reached a 
point within a mile of the new pontoon bridge on 
the night of the 28th of October. He was fiercely 
attacked by Longstreet, but successfully repelled the 
assault, and Lookout Valley was virtually captured. 
By this movement a direct road to Bridgeport, to 
which the railroad from Nashville was in working 
order, was opened in five days after the arrival of 
Grant. 

Only a week before, Jeff. Davis himself had stood 
upon the summit of Lookout Mountain, and gazed 
down upon the Union army shut up in Chattanooga, 
absolutely sure that in a brief period, without striking 
a blow, it must surrender to Bragg. The tables were 
suddenly turned by the matchless skill of Grant. '1 he 
ammunition and stores poured in upon the desponding 



25O OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

army, now reenforced by two corps, and hope and 
joy supplanted fear and despair. The hungry men 
were once more fed on full rations, horses were 
promptly brought up, and the army of the Cumber- 
land was ready to become the assailants again. The 
rebels were confounded by the sudden change in the 
situation before them. 

Grant arranged the details of conveying supplies to 
Burnside, five hundred miles up the Cumberland, and 
thence by wagons, one hundred farther, to Knoxville. 
He repeatedly urged upon this gallant soldier the im- 
perative necessity of holding East Tennessee, though 
the government had some doubts in regard to his 
ability to do so. Grant was only waiting for the 
arrival of Sherman, with the army of Tennessee, 
to attack the enemy ; but until then he could do 
nothing. Bragg, to better his own prospects, sent 
Longstreet, with twenty thousand men and eighty 
guns, into East Tennessee, and great anxiety was 
manifested for the safety of Burnside's command. 
The rebels held the railroad from Chattanooga near- 
ly up to Knoxville, and Grant's force was insufficient 
to enable him to render any direct aid. Burnside 
was sorely pressed by the foe, but maintained himself 
nobly. Grant frequently sent him hopeful messages, 
and assured himself that East Tennessee would be 
held. 

On the night of the 14th of November, Sherman 
reported in Chattanooga to his commander. The 
plan of the great battle which was to relieve Burn- 
side, and compel the enemy " to take to the mountain 
passes by every available road," had already been 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 25 1 

formed. The operations were delayed by savage 
storms, which raised the river, and damaged the 
pontoon bridges, employed to their utmost capacity 
in crossing Sherman's troops ; but on the 23d the 
line was formed for the assault. 

On the 20th, Grant had received a letter from Bragg, 
suggesting that if there were any non-combatants in 
Chattanooga, prudence would suggest their early 
withdrawal ; but this was only a trick, which did 
not deceive Grant ; and two days later he obtained 
information that Bragg was preparing to evacuate 
his position on Missionary Ridge. 

Thomas's line, composed of the army of the Cum- 
berland, was drawn up in front of the town. Just 
before it were the rebel pickets in close proximity to 
those of the national army ; indeed, both drew water 
from a creek which was the dividing line between them. 
Grant occasionally rode out to this stream to observe 
the position of the enemy. One day he saw a party 
of soldiers drawing water. As they wore blue coats, 
he supposed they belonged to his own force, and he 
asked them to whose command they belonged. 

" To Longstreet's corps," replied one of them. 

"What are you doing in those coats then?" de- 
manded Grant, unmoved, when almost any other 
general officer would have decamped in a hurry, for 
fear an accident might happen. 

" O, all our corps wear blue ! " added the rebel 
spokesman. 

Grant had forgotten this fact, and the rebels scram- 
bled up their own side of the stream, little suspicious 
that they had been conversing with the commander 
of the united national armies. 



252 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

The guns in battery along the line opened fire, 
and the enemy's works on the long range of hills, 
replied to the vigorous salute. The line of Thomas's 
army moved forward, and the grand spectacle com- 
menced. It was a magnificent sight, and we who 
beheld it can never forget the gleam of those twenty 
thousand bayonets, as the column pressed steadily on. 
The enemy believed it was only a holiday pageant, 
and their pickets leaned on their muskets, and watched 
the brilliant movement. A few shots from the skir- 
mishers scattered these spectators, and the battle 
commenced. The army of the Cumberland was in- 
tent upon wiping out the stain of Chickamauga, and 
charged impetuously upon the line of rifle-pits before 
them, capturing them, and carrying Orchard Knoll, 
a hill of considerable importance for future operations. 
The enemy had been driven back a mile, and the 
nationals halted, and fortified the ground they had 
captured. 

On the right was Hooker, occupying Lookout Val- 
ley, above which frowned the heights of Lookout 
Mountain, bristling with rebel cannon. On the creek, 
in the middle of the valley, extended the line of Con- 
federate pickets ; but there was no approach to the 
mountain on this side. Hooker sent a column round 
its base to a road which conducted, by a zigzag route, 
to the summit. The enemy's pickets were captured, 
and Lookout Creek bridged. 

Hooker's troops fought with the utmost bravery, and 
demonstrated that Eastern soldiers, when well led, 
were fully the equals of those of the West. They 
swept everything before them in the fierce struggle 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 253 

that followed. The Union batteries opened, and the 
rebels replied from the steeps of the mountain, draw- 
ing down, as it seemed, the thunder and the lightning 
from the clouds above, till the hills trembled in the com- 
motion. The column under General Geary, passing 
through a piece of woods, reached the road which led 
to the heights above. It was a steep path, and every 
accessible place was occupied by troops and guns for 
its defence. But the column dashed up the precipitous 
slopes, beating down all opposition, capturing guns 
and men on their way. Onward and upward, in the 
literal sense of the words, they swept, penetrating the 
clouds, which soon hid them from the view of those 
below. Hooker's battle in the clouds was a complete 
success, and Lookout Mountain was captured. Two 
thousand prisoners were taken, and the victors in this 
remarkable contest rested from their labors on the 
summit. They had " gone up," in the highest sense 
of the phrase, and the rebels also, in another sense. 

Hooker on the right, and Thomas in the centre, had 
carried out their portion in the grand programme of 
the battle ; so also had Sherman on the left. The 
enemy had been deceived into the belief that his whole 
force was to operate in the vicinity of Lookout Moun- 
tain, while it was cautiously moved to a concealed 
position up the river, and in the rear of the town. One 
hundred and sixteen pontoons were conveyed over the 
land, and launched in the North Chickamauga Creek, 
five miles above the mouth of a stream with the same 
name on the south side of the river. On the night 
before the grand battle, these boats were loaded with 
men, and floated down the creek and the Tennessee, 



254 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

until they reached a point immediately below South 
Chickamauga Creek, where the bridge was to be built 
over the river for the passage of Sherman's army. 
All the citizens in the vicinity had been put under 
guard, so that the enemy might not learn what was in 
progress. 

The boats landed on the south side of the river, the 
troops disembarked, the enemy's outpost was captured, 
and a position secured for the beginning of the pontoon 
bridge. Troops were crossed in boats continually. 
At noon the bridge was completed ; the army crossed, 
and Sherman commenced the march upon the enemy's 
jDositions on the left. The troops were pushed up the 
hill, and soon gained a commanding eminence, which 
was immediately fortified, and guns were dragged up 
for its defence. The rebels opened with artillery upon 
the unexpected foe, but Sherman was already in 
possession. A sharp engagement ensued with the in- 
fantry, but the enemy soon withdrew, and the northern 
portion of Missionary Ridge was carried. 

The morning of the next day dawned clear and cold, 
revealing the two armies prepared for the final strug- 
gle, in which one was eager to engage, and which the 
other could not avoid. The rebels were still strongly 
intrenched on Missionary Ridge, whose summit had 
an extent of seven miles. Grant took position with 
his staff on Orchard Knoll, where he could command 
a view of the entire battle-field. Plainly to be seen on 
the heights above him were the headquarters of the 
rebel general. 

In accordance with his orders, Sherman began the 
attack on the left, and closely pressed the Confederate 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 255 

position. Bragg saw his lines yielding, and sent re- 
enforcements from the centre, precisely as Grant in_ 
tended he should do. Sherman secured a position at 
the first onslaught, and the battle around him was 
waged with the most tremendous fury by both sides ; 
but no further advantage was gained. On the right, 
Hooker was working his way around the rebel flank, 
and Grant, having been assured that he was in posi- 
tion to do his part of the work, directed Thomas to 
move forward in the centre, the rebel general having 
weakened this portion of his line to strengthen his 
right flank. 

The four divisions of the army of the Cumberland, 
one of which was commanded by Sheridan, made a 
charge, captured the enemy's rifle-pits at the foot of 
the Ridge, and took one thousand prisoners. Thirty 
guns immediately opened upon them with grape and 
canister, cutting them down in awful slaughter ; but 
it delayed not their march. Steadily they pushed 
their way towards the crest of the ridge, and, halfway 
up, encountered another line of rifle-pits, which they 
charged upon and carried with the same impetuous 
fury which had marked their first assault. 

Grant and Thomas, on the knoll below, watched 
the fearful fighting, as the column mounted the hill. 
A portion of it was momentarily checked and turned 
by the savage fire poured in upon it. Thomas turned 
to Grant and said, with some hesitation, which re- 
vealed the emotion he struggled to conceal in the 
presence of his chief, — 

" General, I — I'm — I'm — afraid they won't get 
up." 



256 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Grant looked steadfastly at the column, waiting half 
a minute before he made any reply ; then, coolly taking 
the cigar he was smoking from his mouth, he brushed 
away the ashes before he answered, — 

44 O, give them time, general," and quietly re- 
turned the cigar to his mouth. 

They only wanted a few moments more, and gath- 
ering up their energies, the men pressed forward with 
redoubled zeal, and gained the summit of the Ridge. 
With furious cheers they threw themselves upon the 
rebel works, and carried them almost instantly. The 
foe was overwhelmed in his strongest position, which, 
as Bragg said himself, " a line of skirmishers ought 
to have maintained against any assaulting force." 
Whole regiments threw down their arms, and others 
fled in hot haste down the eastern slope. The artillery 
was captured, and turned upon other portions of the 
rebel position. The Confederate line was sundered, 
and the enemy were thoroughly beaten in forty-five 
minutes after the order to charge had been given on 
the plain below. 

In the moment of victory Grant appeared upon the 
Ridge, and, passing along with his head uncovered, 
received the unanimous applause of the soldiers. They 
were in a transport of ecstasy over the victory they 
had won, and gathered around him with volleys of 
cheers, grasping his hands, and embracing his legs. 
I wonder not at their enthusiasm, for these men were 
of the army of the Cumberland, who had been " bottled 
up " in Chattanooga, to starve and die : and while they 
hailed the victoi ions general as the author of the triumph 
the}- had achieved, they also hailed him as their own 




Grant and the Soldiers at Missionary Ridge. 

Page 2c;6. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 257 

deliverer. He coolly but not insensibly received their 
grateful plaudits? Without pausing to indulge in any 
self-glorification, he made the dispositions to complete 
the victory and pursue the fleeing host of rebels. 

The victory was thorough and entire. All the rebel 
positions had been captured. Forty guns, seven thou- 
sand small arms, and six thousand prisoners were 
taken — the heaviest spoils of any battle fought in the 
field during the war. The loss of the Union army, in 
killed, wounded, and missing, was fifty-six hundred 
and sixteen. The rebel loss in killed and wounded 
was much less, for they fought with all the advantages 
of a secure position. 

Grant had sixty thousand men, Bragg forty-five 
thousand ; but the elevated situation, and the elaborate 
intrenchments in which they fought, ought to have 
rendered them equivalent to twice that force, as the 
rebel general practically admitted. 

The pursuit of the enemy was vigorously followed 
up, railroads were destroyed, and immense quantities 
of stores and rations captured, which the rebels could 
ill afford to lose. Bragg had been entirely confident 
of his ability to hold his position, and at one time, 
just before Thomas's troops reached the crest of the 
hill, he was congratulating his troops upon the victory 
they had won. While he was thus engaged, the army 
of the Cumberland broke through his line, and com- 
pelled him to run for his life. 

During this fierce battle, Phil Sheridan first attracted 

the attention of Grant, by his bold and daring conduct, 

no less than by his skilful movements ; though the 

great cavalryman did not know of his good fortune 

17 



258 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

for months. He had simply been " spotted " for 
future use. 

The battle of Chattanooga was ended in a glorious 
victory for the Union, and one of the saddest defeats 
of the war to the Confederates — one which put my 
friend Pollard into " fits," causing him to declare that 
" the day was shamefully lost." 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 259 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken has something more 
to say about the glorious Campaign of Chattanoo- 
ga, and illustrates some of the personal Charac- 
teristics of the illustrious Soldier. 

IN one month from the time of his arrival at Chat- 
tanooga, Grant had swept the rebels from the 
positions they occupied — had achieved a success 
which the enemy had believed was impossible. A 
woman, whose home was on the plateau of Missionary 
Ridge, said to one of our officers, after the battle had 
been fought, " Before you all came up here, I asked 
General Bragg, ' What are you going to do with me ? ' 
He replied, ' Lord, madam, the Yankees will never 
dare to come up here.' But it was not fifteen minutes 
before you were all around here." 

I have not the slightest doubt that Bragg was as 
confident of his safety up to the moment his line was 
broken as he was of his own existence. Relying on 
the immense natural advantages of his position, which 
had been fortified to the extent of human skill, he be- 
lieved it was as impossible to move his army as it was 
to move the mountain itself. And it was not a mere- 
ly blind confidence ; for if a man ever had occasion to 
congratulate himself upon the security of his troops, 
Bragg had. 



260 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Grant's plan for the battle, which was strictly fol- 
lowed out, from beginning to end, in all its details, 
was a masterpiece of military skill and combination. 
Without this the brilliant, daring, and resolute assault 
must have ended in total failure. But it is equally cer- 
tain that the splendid plan would have failed without 
the gallant fighting. In fact, Grant commanded both 
armies on that day, for Bragg was obliged to follow 
out the results of Grant's combinations. 

The battle had continued for three days, extending 
over an area thirteen miles in length, to say nothing 
of its perpendicular ascent. Two of the three subor- 
dinate commanders who directed operations under 
him were of his own choosing ; and Hooker, without 
being selected by him, was a man after his own heart, 
so far, at least, as his promptness and his fighting in- 
clinations were concerned. Yet it is marvellous that 
nothing went wrong on those eventful days ; that all 
minor difficulties were overcome, and the operations 
brought into such glorious harmony ; but this is as 
much due to Grant's genius and foresight as the plan 
itself. He had skilfully and prudently weighed the 
conditions of success, and while the men fought well, 
and the generals obeyed their orders, there was no 
chance for failure. 

Even General Ilalleck, who had no partiality for 
the hero, and no confidence in him which had not 
been secured by Grant's wonderful successes, became 
enthusiastic over this battle. " Considering the strength 
of the rebel position and the difficulty of storming his 
intrenchments," said the careful gencral-in-chief, " the 
battle of Chattanooga must be considered as one of the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 26l 

most remarkable in history. Not only did the officers 
and men exhibit great skill and daring in their opera- 
tions in the field, but the highest praise is also due to 
the commanding general for his admirable dispositions 
for dislodging the enemy from a position apparently 
impregnable. Moreover, by turning his right flank 
and throwing him back upon Ringgold and Dalton, 
Sherman's forces were interposed between Bragg and 
Longstreet, so as to prevent any possibility of their 
forming a junction." 

Halleck was a cautious man, and in no danger of 
exaesreratino; the merits of Grant's deeds, so that the 
non-military public may receive his opinion without 
any grains of allowance. In the theory of warfare, in 
his complete knowledge and appreciation of the prin- 
ciples of strategy, however he may have failed in the 
practical application of the science in the field, the 
general-in-chief had no superior. He was a writer 
of no little celebrity, before the war, on military sub- 
jects, and is amply competent to pronounce a safe 
opinion. When a man of his calibre, therefore, steps 
out of the sphere of the Rebellion for a comparison, 
and pronounces the battle of Chattanooga " one of the 
most remarkable in history," the general public, un- 
learned in the mysteries of military science, may jus- 
tifiably deduce from his statement the belief that 
General Grant is one of the most remarkable soldiers 
the world has ever seen. 

History is but little more than a record of wars, 
battles, and sieges. The characters who figure the 
most extensively in its chronicles are the warriors ot 
all ages. How stands Grant among them? He has 



262 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

captured more guns and more prisoners than an) 7 gen- 
eral in the whole history of the world ! The cam- 
paign and siege of Vicksburg is without a parallel in 
the annals of any nation under the sun ! Until the 
American Rebellion Napoleon was the greatest gen- 
eral the world had ever seen. Grant has paled even 
his star ; for Grant has no Waterloo, no disastrous 
retreat, like that from Russia, in his record. 

Not alone in the grandeur of his position as a mili- 
tary genius is Grant great. In his sterling goodness, 
in his modesty, in his magnanimity, in his perception 
of character, in his quiet winning way, in his sublime 
confidence in himself, in his Christian forbearance, in 
his absolute self-negation, and in his unselfish love of 
country, he is a great man, even without the laurel of 
victory upon his brow. When I see him, crippled in 
body, weakened and physically broken down by long 
confinement to his bed, hastening on his crutches to 
the most desperate scene which the annals of this ter- 
rible war present; hurrying with the laurel of Vicks- 
burg and Donelson on his brow, without a thought that 
he was imperilling his splendid reputation in an al- 
most hopeless venture ; speeding through tempest and 
desolation, not at the head of his war-worn and vic- 
torious veterans, but alone, to a stricken, half-starved, 
beleaguered position, from whose overlooking environ- 
ments the cunning foe was gazing down, while they 
waited for famine and death to do their certain work; 
when I sec him thus staking his all, — for his all. in 
a worldly sense, was his brilliant fame. — sacrificing 
ease, comfort, health, exposing his very life, to save the 
army, to save Chattanooga, to save the cause, — I can- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 263 

not but ask, What other man has done so much? 
What other man could, or would? 

One of his biographers has said that Grant went to 
Chattanooga with the reinforcements for which Rose- 
crans had vainly pleaded ; that he went with two 
armies to the relief of the town. There was time 
enough, after Grant arrived, to have fought half a 
dozen battles before even the moral support of either 
of these forces was available for the relief of the army 
of the Cumberland. Sherman was struggling through 
a hostile country, battling with swollen rivers, broken 
roads, and the storms and tempests of November, a 
hundred miles away. Hooker was not in a position 
to lift a finger till the genius of Grant opened the way 
for his movement. Bragg might have swooped down 
from his mountain holds and stormed the intrench- 
ments with an overwhelming force at any hour of the 
day or the night. We only wondered that he did not 
do it. But he held Lookout Valley, held the river, 
held the railroad above and below the town, and 
nothing but his perfect assurance that neither Hooker 
nor Sherman could get into Chattanooga before the 
garrison would be starved out prevented him from do- 
ing so. No ! Grant fought the rebels alone during 
those five days — the darkest and most perilous in his 
career. If he had been beaten in the end, if Chatta- 
nooga had fallen before either of the two armies ar- 
rived, he would still have been entitled to the credit of 
his most heroic and self-sacrificing conduct. 

I repeat, it is not alone the brilliant lustre of his 
military deeds which calls forth our admiration : his' 
patriotism, his unselfish devotion to the cause, entitle 



264 OU R STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

him to the highest place in the regards of the Ameri- 
can people. 

Occasionally, in the current newspapers of the 
day, during the Rebellion, we read the astounding 
statement that General Fitzfizzle was under fire ; that 
a shell exploded on the side of the river where he 
was ; that his staff' besought him not to expose his 
precious person to the deadly projectiles of the enemy. 
We are sensationally informed that General Fitzfizzle 
told his officers to retire to a safe place if they were 
afraid. General Fitzfizzle had evidently screwed his 
courage up to the sticking point, and during the long 
period of three whole minutes he was exposed to the 
bullets of the enemy — until, indeed, his presence was 
elsewhere required. We tender to General Fitzfizzle 
the homage of our grateful admiration. We feel that 
he was a brave man, for he has exposed his corpus to 
the bullet of the foe. But what has he done for three 
minutes more than Private McMullen and Corporal 
Mullinstock have done during the entire battle? Is it 
heralded in the newspapers that by an effort he lias 
exhibited the mere brute courage which has distin- 
guished thousands of humble privates whose names 
will never be printed? 

It does not appear from any record that Grant ever 
uttered a sensational remark on the field. The terri- 
ble earnestness of the man admitted of no side talk, 
no silly affectation, no ridiculous farce which could 
point a paragraph in the papers. He was always in 
the battle, and always a part of the battle. He chose 
the position best suited to his purpose for obsen ing 
the movements of the contending armies. It mattered 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 265 

not whether it was exposed to the enemy's fire or not ; 
he never considered that question. I am not aware 
that he ever recklessly exposed himself without need, 
and certainly he never sought a place of safety during 
the battle. It does not appear that he considered the 
question of personal safety at all. He was where his 
presence was required, without regard to peril. 

At Belmont he was with the skirmishers in the 
front line of battle, the first to go on the field, and 
the last to leave it. At Shiloh he led charge after 
charge, and was in the thickest of the fight. Hun- 
dreds of men behind him, and all around him, fell. 
He never required an escort, but rode, with his staff, 
into the hottest of the light. So continually exposed 
was he, that the whole army wondered he was not 
killed. At Ringgold, in the pursuit of Bragg's flee- 
ing army, he rode for half a mile, at a moderate trot, 
through a storm of shot and shell. He was not think- 
ing of danger — only of the enemy's positions. He 
was studying the battle, in that moment which would 
have tried the souls of common men. There was no 
consciousness at any time on his face that he was do- 
ing " a big thing." He was simply in earnest, com- 
pletely absorbed in the progress of the battle. Where 
necessity required him to go, he went; if there was a 
direct road, by that; if not, over the fields, through 
the woods, swimming his horse through any stream 
that lay in his path. 

He did everything with all his might, as if in literal 
obedience to the Scripture injunction ; and though not 
physically a powerful man, he seemed to be superior 
to fatigue, hunger, cold, and all the ills to which 



266 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

human flesh is subject. He would ride from break- 
fast time till two o'clock the next morning without 
tasting food, and continue this severe exertion until 
his work was finished — till victory had crowned his 
operations. He could wear out his staff, who were 
compelled to attend him, but he did not wear out 
himself. He was an earnest man, and through the 
might of his earnestness, he conquered all obstacles, 
and triumphed over every disadvantage. It was not 
luck, it was not good fortune, that gave him the bat- 
tle ; it was genius, fortified by hard, persistent labor. 
If he beat down greater obstacles than any other man, 
it was because he studied deeper, worked harder, and 
fought longer than any other. 

Grant's task was not yet finished. Burnside was 
still in peril, a hundred miles away. Granger was 
sent forward to his assistance, but his movements were 
too laggard to satisfy the impatience of the heroic 
chief, and Sherman w T as started on the war path to 
supersede him. The army of the Ohio had been 
hemmed in at Knoxville, and its situation was hazard- 
ous in the extreme, though Burnside was fully equal 
to the emergency. He had only twelve days' provis- 
ions left, but he manfully stood his ground. Grant 
had given him the most effectual relief in driving 
Bragg away from the valley. 

At the time of sending Sherman up the Tennessee, 
Grant forwarded a despatch in duplicate to Kingston, 
one copy of which was for Burnside, and the other 
was intended for, and fell into the hands of. the en- 
emy. Longstreet received his copv ; but, before it 
fell into his hands, he learned that Bragg had fallen 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 267 

back. He therefore determined to attack Knoxville 
without delay. Fort Sanders, the principal defence 
of the place, was assaulted, and a fierce struggle en- 
sued, but the rebels were defeated. 

After the battle, Longstreet received the despatch 
which Grant had written for his edification. Finding 
that Sherman was in the vicinity, he had not a moment 
to lose, and started in full retreat for Virginia. Burn- 
side and Sherman conferred together in regard to the 
situation. Longstreet was pursued, but the force was 
insufficient, and the chase was abandoned. Burnside 
did not fully appreciate the situation, and sent Sher- 
man back to Chattanooga, retaining only Granger's 
command. Longstreet was a very able general, and 
took prompt advantage of the mistake of his antago- 
nist. Finding nothing but a small cavalry force behind 
him, he turned, defeated it, and marched back into 
East Tennessee, establishing himself at Russellville 
for the winter, where the country afforded abundant 
supplies. If Grant's orders to Burnside had been 
fully apprehended and carried out, this mortifying 
result could not have transpired. But the winter had 
set in, and military operations in that mountain region 
were impracticable. 

The termination of the event was simply mortify- 
ing: it in no way affected the grand result of the 
Chattanooga campaign, which had been victorious in 
all its details. On the ioth of December, after the 
enemy had been driven from his strongholds, Grant 
issued his congratulatory order to the three armies 
under his command, which has such a ring of true 



26S 



OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



steel in it, that I cannot help holding it up to the ad- 
miration of my sympathizing reader. 

" Headquarters Military Division of the } 

Mississippi, in the Field, > 

Chattanooga, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1863. J 

" The general commanding takes this opportunity 
of returning his sincere thanks and congratulations to 
the brave armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, the 
Tennessee, and their comrades from the Potomac, 
for the recent splendid and decisive successes achieved 
over the enemy. In a short time you have recovered 
from him the control of the Tennessee River from 
Bridgeport to Knoxville. You dislodged him from 
his great stronghold upon Lookout Mountain, drove 
him from Chattanooga Valley, wrested from his de- 
termined grasp the possession of Missionary Ridge, 
repelled, with heavy loss to him, his repeated assaults 
upon Knoxville, forcing him to raise the siege there, 
driving him at all points, utterly routed and discom- 
fited, beyond the limits of the state. By your noble 
heroism and determined courage you have most 
effectually defeated the plans of the enemy for re- 
gaining possession of the States of Kentucky and 
Tennessee. You have secured positions from which 
no rebellious power can drive or dislodge you. For 
all this the general commanding thanks you collec- 
tively and individually. The loyal people of the 
United States thank and bless you. Their hopes 
and prayers for your success against this unholy 
Rebellion arc with you daily. Their faith in you will 
not be in vain. Their hopes will not be blasted. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 269 

Their prayers to Almighty God will be answered. 
You will yet go to other fields of strife ; and, with 
the invincible bravery and unflinching loyalty to 
justice and right which have characterized you in 
the past, you will prove that no enemy can withstand 
you, and that no defences, however formidable, can 
check your onward march. 

By order of Major General U. S. Grant." 

This came from the ". silent man," who simply 
never talks without having something to say ; but his 
pen speaks and reveals the man in all the towerin°- 
grandeur of his lofty patriotism and sublime devotion. 
In this paper he tells the soldiers what they have 
done, not what he has done himself. President Lin- 
coln promptly congratulated the general, and all under 
his command, on the decisive victory, and expressed 
his profoundest gratitude for the skill, courage, and 
perseverance with which the work had been accom- 
plished. 

Soon after the assembling of Congress, while the 
brilliant events I have written down were still fresh 
in the minds of the people, both houses passed a res- 
olution to this effect : " That the thanks of Congress 
be, and they are hereby, presented to Major General 
Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the officers and 
soldiers who have fought under his command during 
this Rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct 
in the battles in which they have been engaged; and 
that the President of the United States be requested to 
cause a gold medal to be struck, with suitable em- 
blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to 
Major General Grant." 



27° OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

These victories were so important, and had such a 
decided influence upon the destinies of the nation, that 
the hearts of the people were filled with gratitude. 
The president appointed a day of thanksgiving, 
and Grant was renewedly hailed as the savior of the 
country. 

He was not dazzled by the elevated position he had 
achieved. Not a vain-glorious remark escaped his 
lips ; not a particle of vanity was apparent in his looks 
or his manner. Neither the victories he had won, nor 
the spontaneous homage of the people, turned his 
thought from the cause to himself. Early in Decem- 
ber, as soon as the campaign was fairly closed, and in 
the very despatch in which he announced the final 
results, he renewed his proposition for an expedition 
against Mobile. He does not ask to go home and 
receive the plaudits of his fellow-citizens ; he does 
not hint at a moment of respite to enjoy the laurels 
he had won ; he does not even require time to rest his 
weary frame, and recover entirely from his injuries. 
He is ready to organize immediately an attack upon 
Mobile. He mentions his route, and proposes to take 
it or invest it before tte end of the next month. He 
was still in earnest, but the government were not pre- 
pared to authorize the movement. 

Burnside had been superseded at Knoxville by Fos- 
ter, and Grant visited his headquarters to prepare for 
a movement against Longstrect as soon as the season 
would permit. Foster was soon relieved at his own 
request, on account of an old wound, and General 
Schofield, at Grant's request, was appointed in his 
place. Sherman was sent to Vicksburg, where he 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2"]l 

organized the celebrated Meridian expedition, and 
early in February it started. The rebels were driven 
out of Mississippi, and its whole railroad system was 
destroyed or deranged so that it was useless to the 
Confederacy. The army marched four hundred miles 
in less than a month, fed upon the country, and re- 
turned in better condition than when it started. 

In January Grant obtained permission of the War 
Department to visit St. Louis, where his son was 
dangerously sick. He travelled without show or 
parade, and few, if any, found out who he was. At 
the hotel, on his arrival, he registered his name as 
" U. S. Grant, Chattanooga ;" but the news of his com- 
ing soon spread, and he was tendered a public recep- 
tion and dinner. His son being much better, he 
accepted the invitation. His speech at the dinner 
was a line and a half in length. In the evening he 
was serenaded, and his speech was two lines and a 
half in length. He had never made a speech, and 
never intended to do so. The multitude shouted for 
a speech. " Tell them you can fight for them, but 
cannot talk to them — do tell them this," pleaded an 
earnest friend at his side. " I must get some one else 
to say that for me," replied the general. Of Grant's 
" silence," I shall have the honor to speak in another 
place. 

During the winter, Grant attended to all the vast 
details of his large department, and put everything 
in condition for an early renewal of the contest in the 
spring, and on the 3d of March he was ordered to 
Washing:ton. 



272 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustri- 
ous Soldier to Washington, where, after enduring 
many Hardships, he is commissioned Lieutenant 
General in the Ar?ny of the United States. 

GRANT was not ignorant of the occasion of his 
summons to Washington. While he had been 
busily engaged with the duties of his department, the 
people had been heaping honors upon him. Associa- 
tions of all kinds, learned and philanthropic, made 
him an honorary member of their bodies. Ohio and 
New York voted him thanks in their legislatures. 
Gifts of every description poured in upon him — 
cigars and cigar cases, revolvers, books, canes, and 
other articles, sufficient in number to enable him to 
establish a private museum, if he had had any taste 
for " the show business." None of these articles 
gave him so much pleasure as a brier-wood cigar 
case, cut out with a pocket knife by a poor soldier, 
and modestly sent to him as a token of the maker's 
veneration and regard. A great many babies were 
named after him at this time, though in this respect 
it is doubtful whether he ever rivalled his immediate 
associate on the presidential ticket, the Hon. Schuyler 
Colfax, who has probably had more babies named 
after him than any other living man. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 273 

It was not safe to speak ill of Grant, so warmly was 
bis name nestled in the hearts of the people ; and no 
one desired to do so except the immediate friends of a 
few disappointed aspirants for fame on the battle-field. 
The leather dealer of Galena had actually become the 
most famous man in America. Only a short time 
before he went to Washington, he had been honored 
in the highest degree in St. Louis by the very men to 
whose back doors he had hauled wood only four years 
before! The city that "respectfully declined" his 
petition to be appointed an engineer was eager to 
give him a public reception, and did yield him all 
the honors within its power. In three years, by the 
might of his brilliant genius, he had lifted himself 
from obscurity to a position which challenged the 
gaze of the whole nation. But his had not been the 
struggle of ambition — only the promptings of patri- 
otic duty. A score of more ambitious generals, fight- 
ing for a name among men, had risen and fallen during 
this time. 

While this tempest of applause was sounding through 
the land, Grant was devoting all his energies to the 
work he had in hand, claiming no honors, asking for 
no preferments. But a grateful people were not satis- 
fled. Grant was no higher in rank than others ; he 
was in no way distinguished on the roll of the army 
from those whom he had outrivalled in the career of 
arms. Just before he had been called to Washington, 
the bill reviving the grade of lieutenant general in the 
army had passed both houses of Congress, and had 
been approved by the president. It was then the 
highest rank known in our country. The office had 
18 



274 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

been created for Washington, and had been filled by 
him for the year preceding his death. It was then 
discontinued, and only conferred by brevet upon Scott 
in 1S55. As Grant rose far above any other general 
in the lustre of his achievements, it was eminently 
proper that the distinction should be conferred upon 
him. He did not ask it, he did not even suggest it or 
hint at it. 

Just before he started for Washington, he sent par- 
ticular instructions to Sherman, who was then return- 
ing from his Meridian expedition, directing him to 
have his army in readiness for a movement upon At- 
lanta in the spring, which he expected to conduct in 
person. With these orders he sent a private letter to 
his devoted friend, which is too perfect an exponent 
of the man to be omitted : — 

" Dear Sherman : The bill reviving the grade of 
lieutenant general in the army has become a law, and 
my name has been sent to the Senate for the place. 
I now receive orders to report at Washington imme- 
diately, in person, which indicates a confirmation, or 
a likelihood of confirmation. I start in the morning 
to comply with the order. 

" Whilst I have been eminently successful in this 
war, in at least gaining the confidence of the public, 
no one feels more than I how much of this success is 
due to the energy, skill, and harmonious putting forth 
of that energy and skill, of those whom it has been 
my good fortune to have occupying subordinate posi- 
tions under me. 

" There are many officers to whom these remarks 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 375 

are applicable in a greater or less degree, proportion- 
ate to their ability as soldiers ; but what I want is, to 
express my thanks to you and McPherson, as the men 
to whom, above all others, I feel indebted for what- 
ever I have had of success. 

" How far your advice and assistance have been of 
help to me, you know. How far your execution of 
whatever has been given to you to do entitles you 
to the reward I am receiving, you cannot know as well 
as I. 

" I feel all the gratitude this letter would express, 
giving it the most flattering construction. 

" The word yozt I use in the plural, intending it for 
McPherson also. I should write to him, and will 
some day ; but, starting in the morning, I do not know 
that I shall find time just now. 
Your friend, 

U. S. Grant, Major General." 

I doubt whether a brighter illustration of pure mag- 
nanimity can be found in the annals of great men 
throughout all time and all nations than the spirit 
manifested by Grant in this letter. I regard him as 
more truly great in this exhibition of an excellent tone 
of mind than in even the glorious victories he won ; 
lor the most brilliant conquest in the field, without a 
noble spirit in the hero, only confers partial greatness. 
I have before said, in speaking of Grant as we saw 
him at West Point, that he was careful of the rights 
of others — the sublimest interpretation of the golden 
rule of Jesus Christ. At the moment when we find 
the illustrious soldier called to the capital to receive 



2^6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

the real laurel he had nobly earned, he seems to pause 
and ask himself if he is not going to take the reward 
which in part belongs to others. On the night before 
he starts, he writes this splendid acknowledgment of 
his indebtedness to the two veterans who had so de- 
votedly sustained him in his trying campaigns and in 
the actual shock of battle. 

Sherman's letter in reply contains a tried soldier's 
estimate of Grant. His language is carefully guarded 
from exaggeration, and I have no hesitation in declar- 
ing that he might have made it even stronger, without 
doing violence to the truth, even in the era of Chatta- 
nooga. While I feel that my humble office as a chron- 
icler of the events of a sublime life is overshadowed 
when such a man as Sherman speaks, justice to the 
reader compels me to insert the veteran's letter in my 
work, for his words carry an influence even beyond 
the inherent truth he utters. 

" Dear General : I have your more than kind 
and characteristic letter of the 4th instant. I will 
send a copy to General McPherson at once. You do 
yourself injustice in assigning to us too large a share 
of the merits which have led to your high advance- 
ment. I know you approve the friendship I have ever 
professed to you, and will permit me to continue, as 
heretofore, to manifest it on all proper occasions. 

" You are now Washington's legitimate successor, 
and occupy a position of almost dangerous elevation ; 
but if you can continue, as heretofore, to be yourself, 
— simple, honest, and unpretending, — you will enjoy 
through life the respect and love of friends, and the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 277 

homage of millions of human beings, that will award 
you a large share in securing to them and their de- 
scendants a government of law and stability. 

" I repeat, you do General McPherson and myself 
too much honor. At Belmont you manifested your 
traits, neither of us being near. At Donelson, also, 
you illustrated your whole character. I was not near, 
and General McPherson in too subordinate a capacity 
to influence you. 

"Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was 
almost cowed by the terrible array of anarchical ele- 
ments that presented themselves at every point ; but 
that admitted a ray o'f light I have followed since. 

" I believe you are as brave, patriotic, and just, as 
the great prototype, Washington ; as unselfish, kind- 
hearted, and honest as man should be. But the chief 
characteristic is the simple faith in success you have 
always manifested, which I can liken to nothing else 
than the faith a Christian has in his Savior. 

" This faith gave you victory at Shiloh and Vicks- 
burg. Also, when you have completed your prepa- 
rations, you go into battle without hesitation, as at 
Chattanooga — no doubts, no reserves; and I tell you 
it was this that made us act with confidence. I knew, 
wherever I was, that you thought of me, and if I got 
in a tight place, you would help me, if alive. 

" My only point of doubt was in your knowledge 
of grand strategy, and of books of science and his- 
tory ; but I confess your common sense seems to have 
supplied all these. 

" Now as to the future. Do not stay in Washing- 
ton ; come west ; take to yourself the whole Missis- 



27S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

sippi Valley. Let us make it dead sure, and I tell 
you the Atlantic slopes and the Pacific shores will 
follow its destiny, as sure as the limbs of a tree live 
and die with the main trunk. We have done much, 
but still much remains. Time and time's influence 
are with us. We could almost afford to sit still and 
let these influences work. 

" Here lies the seat of the coming empire ; and from 
the West, when our task is done, we will make short 
work of Charleston and Richmond, and the impov- 
erished coast of the Atlantic. 

Your sincere friend, 

W. T. Sherman. 

With no trumpet blast to herald his coming, Grant 
went on his way to Washington, travelling in haste, 
and mostly by special trains. He courted and sought 
privacy ; but when it was discovered at the railroad 
stations that he was on the train, the people lustily 
cheered him, and crowded forward to obtain a sight 
of the great man of whom all had heard, but whom 
few had seen. He had never made a "progress" 
after any of his victories. Even the president had 
never seen him. He was well known to the soldiers, 
hardly at all to the civilians. 

On his journey he received a telegram from Gen- 
eral Halleck, so magnanimous in its tone as to leave 
not a doubt that the general-in-chief had been born 
into a new life. Grant was to displace him, but Hal- 
leck behaved handsomely ; and in his generous appre- 
ciation of the illustrious soldier, I shall forever forget 
that he had ever snubbed and disgraced a greater than 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 279 

himself. The despatch was as follows : ; ' The secre- 
tary of war directs me to say that your commission as 
lieutenant general is signed, and will be delivered to 
you on your arrival at the War Department. I sin- 
cerely congratulate you on this recognition of your 
distinguished and meritorious services." 

On his arrival at the capital of the nation, where he 
had never spent more than a single day before, he pro- 
ceeded quietly to Willard's with his son, who accom- 
panied him on the journey. Singular as it may seem, 
he was not discovered. A vainer man than he would 
have been disgusted ; but Grant so far sympathized 
with the rebels that he only wished to be " let alone." 
Without parade or ostentation, he went to the public 
table to dinner. Here, unfortunately for him, but to 
the great delight of the guests of the hotel, the secret 
came out. A member of Congress who was at the 
table recognized him, and, rising, he announced, to 
the dismay of Grant, we may well believe, " Gentle- 
men, the hero of Vicksburg is among us ! " The con- 
gressman proposed his health, and this was the signal 
for the most enthusiastic cheering that ever greeted a 
laurelled hero coming home from the conquest. Grant 
rose from his chair, and merely bowed his acknowl- 
edgments, resuming his seat at the earliest practicable 
moment ; for such a situation was as much worse than 
the bulldog guns of Vicksburg as anything he could 
imagine. He was really a modest man ; his conduct 
was not a Uriah Heep's affectation of humility. He 
was not insensible to the good opinion of the people, 
but the extravagant manifestation of it which obtains 
with our over-demonstrative countrymen was painfully 
embarrassing to him. 



280 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

At Vicksburg Grant personally superintended the 
placing in position of a number of heavy guns. While 
the soldiers were digging out the embrasure, he stood 
on the top of the works, smoking his cigar, and coolly 
whittling a stick — the general inherits the pure ten- 
dencies of a New England Yankee from his ancestors. 
In this situation he was a conspicuous mark for rebel 
sharp-shooters, but he staid there till the guns were 
placed to his satisfaction, to the intense admiration of 
the men, who delight in exhibitions of pluck. I am 
of the opinion, if Grant had been whittling a stick 
when he was discovered and applauded at Willard's, 
he would have cut his fingers ; for he is never intimi- 
dated except under the fire of a popular demonstration. 
I declare, upon my honor as a soldier and an historian, 
that Grant is not indifferent to the praise or blame of 
his fellow-citizens. I know that he is as keenly sen- 
sitive as any man living, though his will enables him to 
control his emotions. I have myself seen him under a 
fire of compliments, and studied the expression of his 
face. He is simply modest, even to diffidence. I 
never saw another man just like him in this respect. 
There is nothing awkward or repulsive in his manner. 

For my own part, I do not see how any man, what- 
ever big thing he has done, can stand still and take 
the most extravagant compliments as a matter of 
course ; and of all the great men I ever knew in public 
life, — and I have known many, — I have been better 
satisfied with Grant's conduct, in the hour of his tri- 
umph, than with that of any other. I cannot describe 
his mien or manner, because it is indescribable. Kind 
words move him, and I have seen the glow upon 
his face, hardly perceptible, it is true, but still there, 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2Sl 

indicating true greatness of soul, in that he was not 
" purled up," or, even worse, was not insensible. 

Grant was beset with admirers ; but when I con- 
sider the quality of a large portion of the crowd which 
gathers in any public place within the limits of the 
national capital, — the parasites and sycophants who 
strive to sun themselves in the smile of a great man, — 
I cannot wonder that Grant did not open his mouth 
to speak, even to thank the multitude for their kind 
appreciation. They beset him behind and before ; 
and a man who could not make a speech on such an 
occasion was a miracle. " Silence was golden." 
With great difficulty could he make his way to his 
private room, where he sought shelter from the on- 
slaught of admirers. 

In the evening he went to the White House, to 
attend President Lincoln's levee. The enthusiasm 
of the people was tremendous. Poor Grant was never 
in such a strait in his life. His particular horror seems 
to have been completely realized on this occasion, and 
though it was, doubtless, one of the proudest moments 
of his life, it was at the same time one of the most har- 
assing and discouraging; for the unfortunate general 
was actually lifted from his feet, and compelled to 
stand upon a sofa, where all in the room could see 
him. Cheer after cheer shook the walls of the house, 
in which President Lincoln heartily joined, standing 
by the side of the hero, and magnanimously sustaining 
him in the hour of his greatest trial, as he had at 
Vicksburg and Chattanooga. In the course of the 
evening, Grant escorted Mrs. Lincoln around the East 
Room, and afterwards remarked that " tin's was his 
warmest campaign during the whole war." 



2S2 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

I heartily sympathize with the sorely-pestered con- 
queror in what to other men would have been the 
realization of the acme of human bliss. He blushed 
and struggled against the awful storm of applause, 
but he did not do a single ridiculous thing. It was a 
time when almost any man could have been forgiven 
for making a fool of himself; but Grant had no vanity 
to triumph over him in the hour of temptation, and 
he came out of it as clean and bright as he went in. 
What is true of him on this specific occasion is equally 
true of him in all his career. He was no more spoiled 
by prosperity than by adversity ; and the former is 
infinitely more destructive to public men than the 
latter. As my late friend A. Ward said of G. Wash- 
ington, U. S. Grant " never slopped over." 

" I hope to get away from Washington soon, for I 
am tired of the show business already," said the perse- 
cuted hero to a friend, as they returned from the levee. 

The show business ! Shades of the over-flattered 
heroes of all time, could it be possible that this man 
had reached an elevation so sublime as to call the 
sweet savor of approbation by such a name ! Others 
have toiled and struggled for a lifetime to win such a 
recognition of their greatness, but Grant wished to 
avoid it ! The Rebellion was not yet conquered. On 
the morrow he was to receive his commission as lieu- 
tenant general, and all the armies of the United States 
were to be placed under his command. He was an 
earnest man, and his whole being was filled with a 
sense of the responsibility he was to assume. The 
destiny of a nation seemed to be placed upon his 
shoulders ; and what wonder was it that he regarded 
mere applause as distasteful? 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2S3 

I almost tremble as I approach a scene which only 
the pencil of the artist can fitly describe. In the 
chamber of the cabinet were gathered, on the 9th of 
March, the president, the members of the cabinet, and 
General Halleck, representing the government. Gen- 
eral Grant, attended by two members of his staff and 
his oldest son, was formally received by the president, 
who addressed the illustrious soldier as follows : — 

" General Grant : The nation's appreciation of 
what you have done, and its reliance upon you for 
what remains in the existing great struggle, are now 
presented with this commission, constituting you lieu- 
tenant general in the army of the United States. 
With this high honor devolves upon you, also, a 
corresponding responsibility. As the country herein 
trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarce- 
ly need to add, that with what I here speak for the 
nation goes my own hearty personal concurrence." 

Lieutenant General Grant accepted the commission, 
and then read his written reply : — 

"Mr. President: I accept the commission with 
gratitude for the honor conferred. With the aid of 
the noble armies that have fought in so many fields 
for our common country, it will be my earnest en- 
deavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel 
the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving 
on me ; and I know that if they are met, it will be 
due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of the 
Providence which leads both nations and men." 

At last the army of the United States, now num- 
bering eight hundred thousand men, had found its 
true leader, and Grant had found his true position. 



2S4 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken has Something to say 
about the illustrious Soldier s Views of Strategy, 
and follows him across the Rapidan into The 
VVilde?'ness. 

THE earnest man, now occupying the highest 
purely military office in the United States, meant 
business ; and on the day after he received his commis- 
sion, he paid a brief visit to the army of the Potomac, 
in company with General Meade, then commanding it. 
The next morning he started for the West, and was at 
Nashville when the order of the president appointing 
him to the command of the armies of the United States 
reached him. In a very brief, simple, and business-like 
order he assumed the command, announcing that his 
headquarters would be in the field, and with the army 
of the Potomac. 

General Halleck, " at his own request," was relieved 
from command as general-in-chief, and assigned to duty 
in Washington as chief of staff of the army. Sherman 
was appointed to the military division of the Mississippi, 

— the position made vacant by the elevation of Grant, 

— and McPherson was placed in command of the 
army and the department of the Tennessee, thus step- 
ping into Sherman's place. Halleck was ki let down" 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2S5 

as gently as possible, the order that promulgated these 
changes including the president's approbation and 
thanks for the zealous manner in which the late gen- 
eral-in-chief had performed his duties. 

In this programme of appointments, of course, the 
lieutenant general had been consulted ; indeed, so far 
as the force in the field were concerned, they were 
his assignments. Sherman and McPherson were 
placed where they could be felt; they were Grant's 
most intimate friends, made so by their zeal and devo- 
tion to the cause which he loved above every other 
consideration. 

Six days after he had assumed the command of the 
armies of the nation, Grant arrived in Washington 
with his wife and his oldest son. He was the central 
figure in the gigantic drama of the American Rebel- 
lion. The eyes of the nation were fixed upon him, 
not alone of the loyal portion, but the jeers and the 
taunts of the South indicated that the rebels them- 
selves had an interest in the movements of the hero 
who had wrested from them the dominion of the west- 
ern portion of the Confederacy. Friend and foe on 
the other side of the broad ocean regarded him with 
almost breathless attention, for now the name of Grant 
flashed over the wires of another continent. His fame 
was as broad as the world itself. 

Well might the lieutenant general have shrunk from 
the stupendous task imposed upon him by the accept- 
ance of his lofty position. He had undertaken a duty 
which none had assumed but to fail — most miserably 
to fail. The prospect before him would have been 
appalling to an ordinary mind. Standing on the 



2S6 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

highest pinnacle of fame as a soldier, as Sherman 
said, " Your reputation as a general is now far above 
that of any man living," he stepped into the most dif- 
ficult position that ever a man filled. He was exposed 
to all the perils of political influence, to all the darts 
of envy and malice behind him, as well as to all the 
combinations of a skilful and desperate foe before him. 
It required no little moral courage, after the failure of 
McClel-lan and Halleck, after the almost uniform dis- 
asters which had beset the Eastern armies, to under- 
take the hazardous task of bringing victory out of the 
elements around him. 

Grant was solemnly in earnest. He was inspired 
with one great thought — the putting down of the Re- 
bellion. His predecessors had indulged in showy 
reviews ; balls and parties had enlivened the tedium 
of the waiting hours in the camp ; and beauty's flash- 
ing eye had gladdened the heart of the soldier. In 
accordance with the traditions of the army, the ladies 
waited upon Lieutenant General Grant, and suggested 
a ball as a fitting festivity in connection with the grand 
review of the army of the Potomac which was pro- 
posed. Gently, but firmly, he objected, and declared 
that " this thing must be stopped." He was not op- 
posed to reasonable pleasures at suitable times, but he 
pointed out to them the condition of the country in 
the throes of a death-struggle with treason, and insisted 
that it was no time for festivities among the army 
officers. He spoke of the wounded and the dying in 
the hospitals, and manifested such a simple and genu- 
ine sensibility, that the ladies, who were true at heart, 
promptly abandoned the project. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2S7 

The grand review took place ; yet it was not a holi- 
day show, but a means of acquainting the general 
with the material of the army which was now to do 
the principal work in suppressing the Rebellion. It 
was a splendid army which marched in column before 
him, and the heart of the great commander was 
strengthened by the display, not of gilt and feathers, 
but of numbers, of muscle, of courage. 

Although in the spring of 1864 the Rebellion had 
been cut in two, the sundered parts, like the fabled 
reptile, were still vital. The Confederacy had been 
weakened, but by no means overpowered. Its sup- 
plies of food had been greatly reduced, but still it 
maintained large armies in the field. The South, 
nominally struggling for what it was pleased to call 
liberty, was the most absolute despotism on the face 
of the earth, and every energy and resource of the 
people, willing or unwilling, was turned into the 
channel of its defence. " The cradle and the grave 
were robbed " to recruit its armies. 

Terrible reverses had befallen the rebel arms, and 
perhaps impaired the faith of the Southern people in 
ultimate success ; but their spirit was not broken, and 
still they howled about the " last ditch." Misfortune, 
instead of bringing thoughts of submission and peace, 
brought desperation, a mad and fanatical zeal, like 
that of a band of pirates who fight tenfold more sav- 
agely to escape the halter than to win a prize. Ill 
success, so far from moderating the fury of the rebel 
soldiers, transformed them into reckless zealots, more 
dangerous than ever before in the path of an army of 
civilized men. This is not a theory deduced from the 



2SS OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

insane protestations of rebel brawlers and newspaper 
writers, but from the conduct of rebel soldiers on the 
battle-field ; a truth derived from The Wilderness, 
Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, not from Jeff. Davis 
and his co-rebel declaimers. 

The experience of three years of war had demon- 
strated that, man for man, the North fought as well, 
at least, as the South. If at one time pluck and per- 
sistency seemed to predominate at the South, the table 
would be turned at another time. For every rebel 
victory there was always more than one offset in na- 
tional triumphs. While everything worth holding in 
the West had fallen, Richmond maintained its bold 
front. The army of the Potomac had been tilting at 
it from the day it was organized ; had repeatedly ad- 
vanced, and as often been driven back. Thus far the 
national arms had failed to reach Richmond. 

While the rebel capital had been the objective point 
of the North, the national capital had been the objec- 
tive point of the South. Whenever a Confederate 
army, Hushed with success in Virginia, crossed the 
Potomac, it was driven back. Lee in Pennsylvania 
was even more unlucky than McClellan in Virginia. 
Chickahominy and Malvern were paralleled by 
South Mountain and Antietam ; Fredericksburg by 
Gettysburg. Between Richmond and Washington, 
up to the time of Grant's appointment as general-in- 
chief, the contest had been a " drawn game." Neither 
side gained any permanent advantage. When the 
North rushed down to Richmond, it was driven back, 
shattered and wasted. When the South swept around 
Washington, it recoiled and went back, leaving its 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 289 

dead, wounded, and prisoners behind. Up to this 
time the fighting material of both armies was not 
only about equal, but in generalship and officers the 
contending forces were well matched. The loyal 
nation was tired of this marching back and forth, 
with nothing but the waste of battle to mark the 
result, and the coming of Grant was hailed as the 
beginning of a new era. 

General Lee was the ablest soldier in the Southern 
Confederacy, and its hope in the coming shock of 
battle rested on him. All the available troops of the 
South were sent to him, and though he was outnum- 
bered, he had the advantage of position ; he had " the 
inside track," which was worth more to him, in a 
military point of view, than the disparity in force was 
to Grant. Lee was not only strongly intrenched in 
his position at the opening of the campaign, but he 
had been over the ground between the Rapidan and 
the James time and again, till he knew every foot of 
ground and every strategic point. Behind him were 
the earthworks he had prepared in former campaigns, 
ready built for use. 

This was the man, and this the situation, which 
Grant had to encounter ; and he sounded with a new 
significance the old cry, " On to Richmond ! " He 
agreed with those who came before him that the rebel 
capital must be taken, and he intended to take it, not 
by a series of chess-board movements, retiring when 
the enemy checkmated him, but by " persistent ham- 
mering." He assigned to strategy its real value ; but 
strategy had been tried by the cunningest men in the 
army, and it had failed. Lee was clear-headed, quick, 
J 9 



29O OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

cool, brave, adroit. He made blunders, but so sel- 
dom that it was hardly worth while to wait for 
one. 

Strategy, as I, Bernard Galligasken, understand it, 
is simply the taking advantage of the enemy's mistakes 
and weak points, without exposing yourself in a simi- 
lar manner. Suppose two generals, in command of 
opposing armies, to be absolutely perfect strategists, 
and each incapable of making a mistake. With the 
forces equal in numbers, pluck, and endurance, the first 
general taking position could hold it, in theory, to the 
end of time. A reinforcement or a mistake alone can 
change the conditions, and give the victory to either. 
If Lee would kindly make a bad blunder, it would be 
easy to whip him ; but he profited by his own blun- 
ders as well as by those of his enemy. If Grant 
would obligingly leave a weak point, Lee could drive 
him out of Virginia. 

Strategy and tactics were splendid qualities in Mex- 
ico, where the officers of the two armies had been 
graduated from different military institutions. There 
strategy overcame all odds, confounding the Mexi- 
cans with its brilliant results. On the battle-fields of 
Virginia, West Point fought on both sides, and the 
difference in weight and mobility of brain gained 
victories. 

Grant had solved this problem of strategy out of his 
own and the experience of the unfortunate generals of 
the army of the Potomac. He believed in strategy as 
fully and firmly as any general ; but the sad spectacle 
of the splendid army whose movements he was to 
direct in the closing campaign, marching back, beaten, 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2QI 

but undismayed, from Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville, and Chickahominy, assured him that strategy 
alone could not cut the gordian knot of rebel power. 

After the fierce battles of Chattanooga, where skill 
and science had done their perfect work, Grant was 
smoking his cigar at his headquarters in Nashville, 
in company with Quartermaster General Meigs and 
General W. F. Smith, who had greatly distinguished 
himself in the engineering operations of the campaign 
just closed. Smith was pacing the room, absorbed in 
his own thoughts, and lost to everything around him. 

"What are you thinking about, Baldy?" asked 
Meigs, breaking the silence which had continued for 
some time. 

General Smith was so intensely engaged in his 
meditations, that he did not notice the question, and 
made no reply. 

" Baldy is studying strategy," added Meigs, turning 
to Grant with a laugh. 

" I don't believe in strategy in the popular under- 
standing of the term," said Grant, very seriously, as 
he removed the cigar from his lips. " I use it to get 
as close as possible to the enemy with little loss." 

" And what then?" asked Meigs. 

"Then? 'Up, guards, and at them!'" answered 
Grant, with more fire than usual. 

His practice was an exemplification of his rule ; 
but he believed that, after strategy had done its ut- 
most, there was, in this war of the Rebellion, a deal 
of terrible fighting to be done. With this view Grant 
placed himself where he could direct the movements 
of the army of the Potomac. Long before he assumed 



292 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

his present office, he had studied the problem, and he 
was now prepared to act vigorously and in earnest. 
He purged the army of incompetent men, sternly ban- 
ished all fancy work from its lines, and gathered him- 
self up for the mighty struggle. 

Sheridan was called from the West, and placed in 
command of all his cavalry. Meade, the hero of Get- 
tysburg, was retained in command of the army of 
the Potomac. Butler was sent to operate on the 
south side of the James. Sigel commanded the force 
in the Shenandoah Valley, which was to protect 
Washington from a rebel force approaching in that 
direction. More important than all, Sherman, at the 
head of the combined armies which Grant himself had 
commanded at Chattanooga, was to move on Atlanta. 
Grant had harmonized the various divisions of the 
army, so that they were no longer to pull " as in a 
balky team," but all together. 

Richmond was the objective point of the army of 
the Potomac, while Atlanta — of vast importance to the 
rebels as a railroad centre, and for its founderies, ma- 
chine-shops, military magazines, and storehouses for 
supplies — was the point to which the army of the 
Mississippi was directed. Grant had planned both of 
these campaigns, ^and he had thoroughly impressed 
it upon his subordinates that there was to be no giv- 
ing up when strategy failed, no turning back, and 
no conducting war on peace principles. It was the 
rebel armies which constituted the power of the Con- 
federacy, and these were to be destroyed. When they 
were used up, strategic points would lose their value. 

Through the month of April the busy notes of prep- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 293 

aration for the strife were heard ; men and material 
were gathered together, and nothing was left undone 
which could add even its mite to the prospect of suc- 
cess. Though the plan of the campaign was kept a 
profound secret in the breasts of only a few, so that it 
might not, as often before, be carried to the rebel 
leaders, yet the people were not blind to the signs of 
the times. Great bodies of men, and vast supplies of 
provision and ammunition, were moved to the front, 
and it was certain that operations on a grand scale 
were about to be commenced. 

Whatever attention Grant had before attracted, — 
and certainly he had been the " observed of all obser- 
vers," — he was now regarded with the most intense 
interest, which could not but be attended with a certain 
painful anxiety. All these preparations had been 
sounded through the land before during the three years 
of grievous solicitude. That grand army had been 
ready to move before, with the petted, the trusted, the 
victorious general at its head. But almost always the 
tidings of disaster, or, at least, of turning back, came 
soon after. Was the solemn tragedy to be repeated 
again ? Were those marshalled hosts once more to be 
forced back, and another great man to be hurled from 
his high eminence? The people prayed for Grant, 
prayed for the army, prayed for success. But they 
believed in their hero. So modest, so gentle, so sim- 
ple, he was a man to be trusted, and there was more 
of hope than of fear in their souls. The general-in- 
chief, unlike his predecessor, had gone into the field, 
and the people saw how earnest, how confident he 
was. He made no parade, sounded no trumpet before 
him, and they felt that God would bless such a man. 



294 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

The army of the Potomac was on the north side of 
the Rapidan, while on the south side was the rebel 
army. Grant's headquarters were at Culpepper Court 
House. Just before the order was given to move 
across the river, the president and the lieutenant gen- 
eral exchanged letters which illustrate Grant's posi- 
tion, while his own exhibits the noble manliness of his 
nature. I must give both. 

"Executive Mansion, Washington, April 30, 1S64. 
" Lieutenant General Grant : Not expecting 
to see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish 
to express in this way my entire satisfaction with what 
you have done up to this time, so far as I understand 
it. The particulars of your plan I neither know nor 
seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, and, 
pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any restraints 
oV constraints upon you. While I am very anxious 
that any great disaster or capture of our own men 
may be avoided, I know that these points are less 
likely to escape your attention than they would be 
mine. If there be anything wanting which is within 
my power to give, do not fail to let me know it. And 
now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God 
sustain you. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln." 

" Headquarters Army of the U. S., 

Culpepper C. H., Va., May 1, 1S64. 

"Mr. President : Your very kind letter of yester- 
day is just received. The confidence you express for 
the future, and satisfaction for the past, in my military 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 295 

administration, is acknowledged with pride. It shall 
be my earnest endeavor that you and the country shall 
not be disappointed. From my first entry into the 
volunteer service of the country to the present day, I 
have never had cause of complaint, and have never 
expressed or implied a complaint against the adminis- 
tration or the secretary of war for throwing any em- 
barrassment in the way of my vigorously prosecuting 
what appeared to be my duty. Indeed, since the 
promotion which placed me in command of all the 
armies, and in view of the great responsibility and 
importance of success, I have been astonished at the 
readiness with which everything asked for has been 
yielded, without even an explanation being asked 
Should my success be less than I desire and expect, 
the least I can say is, the fault is not with you. 
Very truly your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General" 

This reply, so characteristic of the man, is noble in 
itself, and sublime in contrast with the views of some 
other generals. " The fault is not with you." Not 
thus spoke others even before they had failed. 

On the 3d of May, General Meade was ordered to 
cross the Rapidan, and on the following day the pas- 
sage was effected without opposition. The army 
entered that desolate region called The Wilderness, 
and the soldiers, borrowing speech from the Odyssey, 
might have exclaimed, — 

"We went, Ulysses (such was thy command), 
Through the lone thicket and the desert land." 



2Q6 our standard-bearer, or 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Wherein Captain Galligas ken follows the Campaign 
of the A}-my of the Potomac, and the illustrious 
Soldier annotmces that he shall fight it out on that 
Line, if it takes all Summer. 

THE river was safely crossed, and the anxiety 
which the lieutenant general had felt in regard 
to this movement was removed. It was an entire 
success. The army train consisted of four thousand 
wagons, and it required no little accurate calculation 
to dispose of it with the available roads, without sub- 
jecting any portion of it to the liability of capture. 
Formed in single line, the procession of teams, allow- 
ing forty feet to each, would extend about thirty miles, 
or nearly half way to Richmond. It would require a 
man of great ability to conduct such a train even ten 
miles, in a time of profound peace, without throwing 
it into confusion. The nicest system and the closest 
cooperation were necessary, in order to keep it in a 
place of safety, and to prevent its movements from 
being impeded. Of course this train could not be 
extended on a single line. It was a part of the cal- 
culation of the commanding general to keep this im- 
mense procession in a place of safety, and yet have it 
when and where it was wanted. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 297 

But the wagons were only a small part of Grant's 
solicitude. His army was composed of about one 
hundred and thirty thousand men — equal to the popu- 
lation of a large city. To have marched this vast 
body on a holiday excursion from the Rapidan to the 
James, with no hostile foe to dispute its passage, would 
be regarded as a stupendous undertaking even for a 
skilful person. Wellington once observed that there 
were very few generals in Europe who could march 
an army of a hundred thousand men through Hyde 
Park gate without throwing them into confusion. But 
this vast army on its southern march was to be kept 
well in hand, and all its movements and positions 
known to one man. It was to be swung round, 
marched and countermarched, as a child handles a 
toy. It required a man of genius to control this cum- 
brous machine, independently of fighting battles with 
it. In the hands of an incompetent man, its very num- 
bers would have been its greatest element of weakness. 

Not only was Grant directing the movements of this 
vast army, but he controlled another, hundreds of miles 
away, nearly as large, and a dozen more of' minor 
magnitude. Civilians who have never witnessed the 
movements of an army on a large scale can have no 
adequate idea of the skill required to handle its col- 
umns ; but it is patent to many of the knowing ones 
that some of our generals failed for the want of this 
very ability to move in harmony such vast bodies of 
men. I gaze with wonder and admiration at the ease 
and facility with which Grant carried in his mind the 
details of such a stupendous organization, and moved 
its parts as the mainspring moves all the wheels of a 



29S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

watch. A man with this ability alone is a miracle of 
power. 

It was the plan of the lieutenant general to flank 
the army of Lee, and place his forces between the 
rebels and Richmond, though the suctess of the cam- 
paign was by no means made to depend upon this 
movement. It would compel the Confederates to 
abandon their elaborate intrenchments, upon which 
they had labored for months, either to assault the 
moving column or to fall back upon the capital. Lee 
did not allow himself to be flanked, but, abandoning 
his works, attempted to cut through the national line, 
while it was yet involved in the intricacies of The 
Wilderness. 

Grant had not intended to fight a battle in this un- 
favorable spot, though he was ready at all times for 
the assault. The region was a tangled thicket, where 
the artillery could not be effectually used, and where 
it was impossible to manoeuvre an army. When he 
found his subtle foe approaching in force, he made 
his dispositions for the conflict. The battle com- 
menced at noon, and raged with tremendous fury till 
night. It was fought with reckless valor on both 
sides. The rebels were repeatedly massed in heavy 
columns, and hurled against the Union lines. The 
tide of battle surged to and fro till the darkness inter- 
rupted the fierce strife. No decided advantage was 
gained on either side, and the two armies, exhausted 
by the struggle, slept upon their arms. 

At dawn the next morning, May 6, the national 
line was again formed. It was live miles in length, 
with Sedgwick, commanding the Sixth Corps, on the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 299 

right, Hancock, with the Second Corps, on the left, 
while Warren, with the Fifth, and Burnside, with the 
Ninth Corps, were in the centre. By the arrival of 
Longstreet, the rebels were reenforced, and Lee began 
his "hammering" process on the right of the national 
line, which had been directed to make a general attack. 
The awful tragedy of the day before was repeated, 
and both lines at times swayed back and forth. Han- 
cock drove the force in front of him a mile and a half 
to the rear, capturing many prisoners and five stands 
of colors ; but the advantage was soon lost. From 
morning till night again, with only an occasional lull, 
the lines surged like the great waves of ocean — now 
broken and scattered, but then mounting again with 
new vigor, and rolling on as though death had no 
terrors, and life had no pains. Again the sun went 
down on a field unwon by either contestant in the 
savage strife. Not a particle of practical advantage 
was gained by Grant or Lee. The Union army had 
fought on the defensive, and had repulsed the assault ; 
so far it had been successful. The rebel army had 
fought on the offensive, intending to drive the national 
forces back upon the Rapidan, and break up the cam- 
paign at the onset. In this it had failed. Further- 
more, Grant had succeeded in driving Lee out of his 
intrenchments. 

The loss on both sides exceeded twenty thousand 
men. The Union loss was much greater than that of 
the rebels, for the latter were familiar with every foot 
of the wild region in which the battle was fought, and 
were thus enabled to take advantage of what were the 
greatest obstacles in the path of the national troops. 



300 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

The army of the Potomac had reached a crisis in its 
progress when it had been the rule to retreat and 
recruit. Indeed, Lee believed he had inflicted injury 
enough upon his foe to compel him, according to the 
traditions of the past, to retire and cover Washington. 
But to his amazement, not to say his horror, he ascer- 
tained that Burnside and Sedgwick were in motion, 
not for the Rap i dan, but for Spottsylvania. 

Throughout the loyal land, and, we may well be- 
lieve, the homes of treason also, the most intense anxi- 
ety for the result prevailed. The faithful, north of the 
Potomac, had been educated by the experience of 
three years to be prepared for disasters in Virginia, 
and a splendidly-conducted retreat would not greatly 
have astonished, however much it would have grieved 
and disappointed them, expecting, as they did, better 
things of the new general-in-chief. Washington was 
in a state of the most exciting anxiety and suspense, 
in which the president and the officers of the War 
Department shared. Many sat up all night to hear 
tidings from the bloody battle-field. 

Grant, even more thoroughly in earnest than ever 
before, had given orders, at the outposts of the city's 
defences, to* arrest every man fleeing from the battle- 
field, and to put in irons every officer who " straggled." 
Among those who were thus ignominiously shackled 
were foil?- colonels. Of course these beggarly cow- 
ards brought tidings of defeat and disaster, and it 
was feared in Washington, as it was hoped in Rich- 
mond, that the grand army of the Potomac was again 
in retreat, was again retracing its steps to a safe posi- 
tion on the Potomac. Fear and suspense reigned, not 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 3OI 

only in the capital, but in all the loyal land. Grant 
was the last hope of the people, and if he had failed, 
— he who had beaten down Vicksburg, and scattered 
the foe at Chattanooga, — the cause would be almost 
hopeless. 

Grant forwarded no sensational despatches, but at 
the earliest opportunity he sent a truthful statement of 
the results of his operations. If all that had been 
hoped of the army was not achieved, the news was 
satisfactory. The national forces at least held their 
own ; they were not retreating, as General Lee be- 
lieved and had telegraphed to Richmond. The nation 
breathed easier, especially when President Lincoln 
declared by proclamation that " enough was known 
of the army operations within the last five days to 
claim our especial gratitude to God." Additional 
troops were sent forward to fill up the fearful gaps 
which had been made in the lines by the carnage of 
battle. 

On Saturday, the lieutenant general, so far from 
being checked or disheartened by his position, felt 
that he had the advantage of the enemy, and coolly 
proceeded to carry out his original purpose of flank- 
ing the rebel army. He commenced moving his forces 
to Spottsylvania Court House, fifteen miles from The 
Wilderness ; but the thundering roll of that mighty 
wagon train was heard by Lee. It assured him that 
a new movement was in progress, and he quickly dis- 
covered its nature. Then commenced a race for the 
objective point of both. There was considerable 
skirmishing during this day, but no heavy battle. 

Both armies were moving in parallel lines for Spott- 



302 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

svlvania Court House, and on several occasions they 
jostled each other so as to produce smart engagements ; 
but there was no general battle. The advance of the 
two armies reached their destination at the same time, 
and the rebels immediately took possession of the 
strong earthworks which had been previously con- 
structed. Warren, in command of the Fifth Corps, 
attacked at once ; but the enemy was so well protected 
by his intrenchment that the assault failed. But, re- 
enforced in the afternoon, the attack was repeated, 
and the foe was driven out of his works, the nationals 
capturing fifteen hundred prisoners. During the day 
every corps of the army had been engaged. 

Monday was spent in strengthening the position 
and in preparation for the fight, though there was 
much skirmishing going on all day. While General 
Sedgwick was superintending the posting of the guns 
in front of his corps, a bullet struck him in the face, 
and he fell, dying immediately. He was a noble 
man, and a severe loss to the army. On this day 
also was sent out Phil Sheridan, on that bold raid in 
which he inflicted so much injury on the rebels, sweep- 
ing around Richmond, and menacing its safety. On 
this expedition he encountered and fought the most 
celebrated cavalryman of the rebel army, — General 
Stuart, — who was mortally wounded in the action, 
and his forces routed. 

On Tuesday the general attack upon the rebel line 
was made. The thunder of five hundred cannons 
opened the battle, which raged through the long day. 
Each of the opposing generals had almost uniformly 
divined the purposes of the other, and there were no 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 303 

important mistakes on either side to be taken advan- 
tage of. Both armies fought with the fury of despera- 
tion, the rebels having the tremendous advantage of a 
line of strong works to cover their operations. The 
front line of intrenchments was captured, but the ene- 
my had others behind it. Though two thousand pris- 
oners were taken, no decided advantage was gained, 
save that the "hammering" the rebels had received 
made its due impression. 

On Wednesday there was no general conflict, though 
so closely were the two armies brought together, that 
frequent skirmishes could not be avoided. On this 
day, Grant sent a hopeful despatch to Washington, 
announcing the result of his operations thus far. It 
was the end of the sixth day of continuous heavy 
fighting. He believed that the enemy's loss had been 
greater than his own. He had taken five thousand 
prisoners in battle, and had lost but few except " strag- 
glers." At the end of this communication he append- 
ed that thrilling sentence which has so often been 
repeated as an eloquent interpretation of the charac- 
ter and persistency of the man : " I propose to 

FIGHT IT OUT ON THIS LINE, IF IT TAKES ALL 
SUMMER." 

My friend Pollard becomes particularly unamiable 
at this critical passage in the history of " The Lost 
Cause," and declares that " Grant was not shamed. 
The Moloch of the North had not yet been sated." 
This romancing writer was dissatisfied with poor 
Grant, because he would not go back to the Rapidan. 
McClellan was a good fellow, in his estimation, for he 
did not keep " hammering," and after he had fought 



304 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

a drawn battle, like that at Antietam, he did not vex 
the chivalrous Lee by running after him when he 
" retired." " Grant was not shamed," as McClellan 
used to be after he had fought a battle. Doubtless 
Grant ought to have been " shamed," and gone back 
like a good boy, and not have been so ridiculous as to 
propose to fight it out on that line, if it took all sum- 
mer. That "Moloch of the North" was an awful 
fellow, bound to be " sated" only when the Rebellion 
fell through. 

My dearly-beloved friend Pollard is also vexed at 
the generalship of Grant, and prates about " the fierce 
and brutal consumption of human life." I am inclined 
to think he believes in the checker-board theory of car- 
rying on war ; but the sum total of Grant's sins was, 
that he did not retreat, and give Lee time to recruit 
and strengthen his position. My friend persistently 
forgets that these hard knocks in the end used up the 
rebel army, and introduced him, as a writer, to his 
subject, " The Lost Cause." Though the end does 
not always justify the means, it did in this instance, 
fully and unequivocally. Though the national army 
had in these six days lost thirty-five thousand men, in 
killed, wounded, and missing, the destruction in the 
rebel ranks could not have been greatly less, in spite 
of the advantages under which it was engaged. If 
Grant had retired, and left Lee to recuperate the pluck 
of his army by proclaiming his victory, and to recruit 
his exhausted forces, the results of these tremendous 
battles would have been lost to the loyal cause. As 
it was, they ground in upon the spirits of the rebel 
army, and produced their proper share of the effect 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 305 

which finally resulted in the overthrow of the Rebel- 
lion. Pollard knows very well if Grant had turned 
back, the Confederacy would have obtained a new 
lease of life ; and he frets because the illustrious sol- 
dier would not oblige Lee in this respect. 

On Thursday, Hancock made a sudden attack, 
surprising the rebels, capturing one entire division, 
two brigades of another, and thirty guns, the number 
of prisoners being between three and four thousand. 
This was a decided success. Generals Johnson and 
G. H. Stuart were captured. Hancock extended his 
hand to Stuart, whom he had known before, exclaim- 
ing, "How are you, Stuart?" But the rebel was 
haughty and " airy," and replied, " I am General 
Stuart, of the Confederate army, and under present 
circumstances I decline to take your hand." " Under 
any other circumstances I should not have offered it," 
added Hancock, with coolness and dignity. 

The enemy made a desperate effort to recover what 
he had lost, and the battle became general again ; but 
no permanent advantage was secured. Lee retired 
to his inner line of intrenchments, which he had 
strengthened so that a direct assault was not practi- 
cable. For a week, while the roads were rendered 
unfit for use by heavy rains, the two armies confront- 
ed each other. Grant watched for an opportunity to 
turn the enemy's position, but his wily foe as often 
discovered his purpose. It was manifest that no 
brilliant results were to be achieved at Spottsylvania, 
and Grant made up his mind to " fick it again." A 
new flank movement was begun, and the lieutenant 
general safely moved his army " on to Richmond," 
20 



306 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

across the North Anna River, where its passage was 
disputed by the rebels ; but they were driven back, 
and the nationals crossed the stream, posting them- 
selves in a strong position. 

In the mean time. Grant had changed his base of 
supplies from Fredericksburg to White House, on the 
Pamunkey. Sheridan had returned from his raid, 
and was rendering efficient service in protecting the 
supplies with his cavalry, and in reconnoitring the 
positions of the enemy. Lee, who had been over all 
this ground before, in the memorable campaign with 
McClellan, and knew from experience what strong 
places the region contained, was found to be even 
more securely placed than before. Grant therefore 
decided not to attack him in his intrenchments, but, 
under cover of a feint, recrossed the North Anna, 
marched along its banks till he reached the Pamun- 
key, of which the former river is a branch, crossing 
it near Hanover Court House, only sixteen miles from 
Richmond. 

The rebels still kept up with the movement, occupy- 
ing their intrenchments made to cover Richmond. 
They were posted on the Chickahominy, which Grant 
was obliged to cross if he reached the city. He de- 
cided to make the attempt to break the enemy's line 
at Cold Harbor, where roads were available from 
White House and to the rebel capital. The attack 
was made, and one of the severest battles of the cam- 
paign followed. Sheridan had taken possession of 
the place, and the enemy attempted to drive him out. 
The Sixth Corps went to his assistance, and the spot 
was held. Two days later, at four o'clock in the 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. T>°7 

morning, a general assault was made. The first line 
of the rebel works was carried by Hancock, but he 
was forced back with heavy losses. The conflict 
raged with unabated fury till half past one in the 
afternoon, when the weary combatants rested from 
the strife. Grant fortified his line, but it was impossi- 
ble to carry the rebel strongholds. 

The battle was fought on the third day of June. 
The enemy had successfully repulsed the attack, and 
practically demonstrated that the door of Richmond 
was not open in that direction. Grant was not dis- 
mayed, nor even " shamed ; " nor was the " Moloch 
of the North sated." "On to Richmond" was still 
the beating of his heart, and still he fought it out on 
this line. If nothing could be done, it would be use- 
less to stay in the swamps, where disease and death 
lurked for their victims. Grant promptly decided to 
" nek it again," and commenced the difficult move- 
ment of transporting his vast army to the south side 
of the James. 



3oS OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken describes in brief 
Detail the Siege of Petersburg and Richmond, 
and attends the illustrious Soldier to the End of 
the Campaign at Appomattox Court Hozise. 

IN my limited space, it would be impossible for me 
to do anything more than indicate the principal 
movements of the army. The details are so cumbrous 
and complicated that they would require a whole 
volume, and they are not necessary to my purpose in 
illustrating the character of General Grant. 

Doubtless General Lee was aware of the move- 
ments of the Union army, for a body of troops, num- 
bering over a hundred thousand, could hardly have 
been spirited through a hostile region without some 
tidings of its operations reaching him. But the trans- 
fer was made so skilfully and expeditiously that it was 
practically a surprise. Probably Lee expected to find 
Grant battering away at his intrenchments at some 
point between the Chickahominy and the James; but 
he must have been astonished when he heard of him 
fifty-five miles distant, menacing his lines on the south 
side of Richmond. 

General Butler, with the army of the James, was 
at Bermuda Hundred, on the river. He had been 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 309 

directed to capture Petersburg while it was feebly 
defended. He had made the attempt, but it had failed. 
He had strongly fortified his position, and kept a rebel 
force in front of him, thus in part answering the ends 
for which he had been sent to the south side. 

General Lee, finding that Grant was menacing Rich- 
mond from a new quarter, hurried his army through 
the city to confront him in his new position. On the 
arrival of Grant at Butler's encampment, he immedi- 
ately sent out another force for the capture of Peters- 
burg, which was an exceedingly important point, 
covering the railroad connections with the south. 
The rebels in the intrenchments in front of Butler 
hastened to the defence of the exposed city, and the 
vacated works were occupied by Union troops, but 
they were eventually driven back. The army was 
drawn up around Petersburg, where the enemy was 
very strongly intrenched in three lines of works. A 
vigorous and determined assault was made, but with- 
out gaining anything more than a temporary ad- 
vantage. Burnside got near enough with his black 
brigades to throw a few shells into Petersburg, but 
after a bloody conflict he was forced back. The effort 
was faithfully made, and continued through three da}'s ; 
but the works were invulnerable. 

At this point Grant fixed his gripe upon the two 
cities of Richmond and Petersburg. By his hard 
fighting he had secured favorable positions to com- 
mence his siege, operations, which were vigorously 
followed up till the final event. 

Phil Sheridan had been sent off on another raid to 
destroy the Virginia Central Railroad, and to unite 



3IO OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

with Hunter, by whom Sigel had been superseded, 
after his defeat by Breckinridge. He succeeded fully 
in the first part of his purpose, but could not find 
Hunter, who had been sent down through the Shen- 
andoah Valley to strike Lynchburg. Twelve miles 
from Staunton, he encountered Jones's command, 
fought, and defeated it, taking fifteen hundred prison- 
ers. Hunter united the expeditions of Crook and 
Averill with his own, and marched upon Lynch- 
burg ; but Lee had reenforced its garrison, and he was 
compelled to retreat, which he did by the way of West 
Virginia, thus placing his troops out of the field at a 
time when they were very much needed. This army 
had been relied upon by Grant to keep back a rebel 
approach up the Shenandoah Valley towards Wash- 
ington, while he had coiled the army of the Potomac 
around Lee's forces south of the James, so that there 
was no danger of the main body again menacing the 
national capital. 

It makes me even now groan in spirit to recall the 
failures of Grant's subordinates who were removed 
from the immediate sphere of his influence; but when 
I think how charitable the lieutenant general was to 
them, it is not meet that. I should complain. These 
short comings were galling and vexatious to him, im- 
perilling the mighty plans he had so laboriously built 
up ; but he behaved like a Christian in even - disap- 
pointment and trial. 

Several cavalry raids were organized, which in- 
flicted severe injuries upon the enemy's communica- 
tions south of Petersburg. The celebrated mine was 
sprung on the 30th of July, which blew up one of the 



most important of the rebel forts, involving a battery 
and the greater part of a regiment in its destruction ; 
but the result, which had promised so well, realized 
nothing but disaster. As soon as Lee discovered that 
Hunter was retreating through West Virginia, he sent 
Jubal Early, with a picked force of twenty-five thou- 
sand men, down the Shenandoah Valley, to threaten 
Washington, and to capture it, if practicable, hoping 
thus to distract the attention of Grant, and cause him 
to relax the " anaconda " gripe in which he held the 
rebel army. This army swept fiercely down the val- 
ley, and driving the small Union force in the vicin- 
ity before it, crossed the Potomac. Strong bodies 
of cavalry, under Mosby, rushed through Maryland, 
plundering Hagerstown and Frederick City, robbing 
the stores, and extorting money from the people to 
save their houses from being burned. They destroyed 
a portion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and 
threatened Baltimore and Washington. 

General Wallace gathered a force of eight thousand 
men, and attempted to dispute the passage of Early's 
army ; but as the enemy were three to his one, he was 
compelled to fall back, though he fought a sharp battle 
before doing so. Washington and Baltimore were 
now greatly alarmed, and the citizens were called to 
arms. The enemy came within five miles of the cap- 
ital. Grant sent the Sixth Corps, under Wright, and a 
portion of the Nineteenth, which had just arrived from 
New Orleans, for its protection. There was some 
heavy skirmishing near the capital, but the rebels soon 
retired. Wright was ordered to follow them ; and, 
having overtaken Early, a smart engagement ensued, 
in which the enemy was defeated. 



312 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

The Shenandoah region gave the lieutenant general 
a great deal of trouble. He found that Early had no 
intention of returning to Richmond, but had established 
himself in the valley ; was gathering the rich harvests 
there, and sending large supplies to the rebel capital. 
He visited Hunter in person, and gave him particular 
instructions to follow Early, and to destroy all sup- 
plies ; but finding Hunter willing to be relieved, he 
soon after assigned Sheridan to the Middle Military 
Division, which included all this section, and all the 
troops in Washington and its vicinity. The bold cav- 
alryman was not only the most dashing officer in the 
arm) T , but one of the best and most skilful generals. 
He soon brought order and harmony out of the con- 
fusion and complications which had so disturbed the 
general-in-chief. Grant cautioned him at first to avoid 
a general engagement, fearful, in case of defeat, of 
exposing Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the capital to 
new incursions. 

Sheridan was full of fight, and saw his way clearly 
to a national victory ; but he was too good a soldier 
to disobey his orders. Grant was willing to give the 
desired permission, but, not fully understanding the 
situation, or the views of his subordinate, he made a 
second visit to the Middle Division, and had an inter- 
view with Sheridan at his headquarters, near Harper's 
Fen}-. High as his opinion had before been of the 
dashing soldier, the lieutenant general seems to have 
received a new revelation of his character and pur- 
poses on this occasion, as his enlarged sphere brought 
out his capacities ; and he found it necessary to give 
him only that brief and singularly expressive order, 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 313 

" Go in ! " Grant adds that he never found it neces- 
sary to visit Sheridan again before giving him orders. 

Sheridan " went in " ! He promptly attacked Ear- 
ly, fought him all day, and beat him thoroughly. The 
enemy lost five guns, fifteen battle flags, and five thou- 
sand prisoners. Not satisfied with this splendid result, 
he pursued the defeated foe up the valley, till the lat- 
ter made a stand at Fisher's Hill. Here Sheridan 
" went in " again, routed Early, drove him from his 
position, scattering portions of his force among the 
mountains. Leisurely returning, he posted himself at 
Cedar Creek to rest his troops after their hard march- 
ing and fighting. Here, while Sheridan was absent 
at Winchester, his army was surprised and badly 
beaten. The guns were captured, portions of the 
force routed, and the whole compelled to retreat. 

Sheridan was twenty miles from the scene of ac- 
tion ; but hearing the distant booming of the guns, he 
mounted his good horse, and dashed away at a furious 
speed, and, in the midst of the rout, appeared upon 
the lost field, his charger reeking with foam. Dashing 
along the broken lines, then in retreat, he swung his 
hat in air, shouting furiously to the troops, " Face the 
other way, boys ! We are going back." The strag- 
glers began to rally at this startling presence on the 
field ; and pushing to the main body, he electrified the 
army with his glorious spirit. " Boys, this would 
not have happened if I had been here," he called ; 
" we are going back." Dashing here and there like 
a meteor among the troops, he reformed the lines, and 
made his dispositions for a renewal of the battle. 
Before the arrangements were quite completed the 



314 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

rebels came down upon the lines again for a fresh 
and overwhelming assault. This time the onslaught 
was boldly and successfully resisted ; and Sheridan, 
taking advantage of a momentary reeling of the ene- 
my, charged upon them with infantry and cavalry, 
broke their lines, and thoroughly routed them. All 
that the rebels had was captured, including the guns 
and camp equipage which they had taken in the 
morning. 

Sheridan, by his personal presence, by his magnetic 
influence, and by his unsurpassed military skill, had 
wrested victory from defeat. The one man had fought 
the battle, and had won it. For his brilliant achieve- 
ment, he was made a major general in the regular 
army, in the place of General McClellan, who re- 
signed to go into politics. Grant ordered one hun- 
dred guns to be fired from each of the armies around 
Petersburg in honor of Sheridan's victory. " Turn- 
ing what, bade fair to be a disaster into a glorious vic- 
tory," said the lieutenant general, "stamps Sheridan — 
what I have always thought him — one of the ablest 
of generals." 

Sheridan's victory also stamps Grant as the ablest 
of generals ; for in the selection of his pet he displayed 
a knowledge of human character and a keen percep- 
tion of the adaptation of means to ends, the want of 
which had caused so many other generals to fail. My 
friend Pollard is made especially mad by this episode 
in the Shenandoah Valley. He is particularly dis- 
gusted with the singular story of " the sudden appari- 
tion of General Sheridan on a black horse necked 
with foam," though in the same chapter in which he 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 315 

alludes to the incident, he tells a story himself which 
would have made Baron Munchausen tremble for his 
reputation. 

Sheridan's exploits in the valley, and his destruction 
of the rebel supplies, put an end to Confederate oper- 
ations in that quarter. Washington was not menaced 
again, and the Sixth Corps was sent back to Peters- 
burg to resume its place in the line of investment. 
The army of the Potomac was still battering away 
with its siege works at the rebel fortifications. It had 
extended its line around Petersburg, and destroyed 
twenty miles of the Weldon Railroad. There was no 
rest for the troops in the trenches. Every day brought 
its labors and its battle on a larger or a smaller scale. 
The sharp-shooters were picking off any man who 
showed his head above the breastworks. It was 
ceaseless toil and ceaseless vigilance. Grant was 
everywhere, on the watch for an opportunity to take 
advantage of any favoring circumstances. The winter 
came, and the lieutenant general did not desert the 
army to engage in the festivities or the excitements of 
the capital. He still kept his gaze firmly fixed on the 
prize which would end the Rebellion. 

While the general-in-chief had been " hammering " 
away at the rebel army in Virginia, Sherman, under 
his direction, had been striking heavy blows at the 
South. He had fought and flanked his way down to 
Atlanta, carrying dismay and desolation before his 
victorious banners. The series of disasters which at- 
tended the operations of Johnston caused his removal 
from the command, Hood taking his place. The 
"great flanker" punished him even worse than his 



316 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

predecessor, and Hood went into Tennessee, with an 
army of fifty thousand men, to overwhelm Thomas ; 
but this veteran almost wiped him out, and drove him 
to the south, with the loss of half his force and more 
than half his guns and munitions. Farragut thun- 
dered into Mobile Bay with his squadron, and, having 
defeated or sunk the rebel fleet, captured all the forts 
which covered Mobile. During the winter, Fort 
Fisher fell, and Wilmington dropped quietly into the 
hands of the Union forces. To crown the disasters 
of the Confederacy, Sherman made his grand march 
to the sea, mowing a wide swath on his passage, and 
leaving desolation and ruin in his path. 

The Confederacy was on its last legs in the spring 
of 1865, though Lee still held his lines at Petersburg 
and Richmond. Jeff. Davis was still confident, though 
his general declared that he was no longer able to 
make a good fight. Some attempts to negotiate a 
peace were made, but they failed because the rebels 
still wanted terms which a conqueror might have 
asked. Grant had long ago demonstrated that the 
Confederacy was nothing but a " shell," and it had 
been broken in a hundred places. Still the rebels 
held out wherever they had a foot of ground whereon 
to stand. Still they prated about the " last ditch," 
and looked confidently, even up to the time of the 
final disaster, to foreign interference, or to some mi- 
raculous interposition of circumstances. 

Sherman contined his march, captured Savannah, 
caused the evacuation of Charleston, and occupied 
Columbia. Johnston was gathering an army in 
North Carolina for the purpose of overwhelming him. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 317 

Grant feared that Lee would desert Richmond, and 
seek to join the forces of Johnston. Indeed, he had 
been partly moved by this consideration in the selec- 
tion of the south side of the James as his field of op- 
erations, j Richmond, without the rebel army which 
for four long years had been defending it, would be a 
showy, but not a substantial prize. ) 

President Lincoln went down to City Point, and 
visited the national army in its several positions, as 
well to inform himself practically of the situation as 
to encourage the soldiers who had so long and so val- 
iantly struggled for the salvation of the nation. The 
preparations for the final campaign were completed, 
and the army was to move on the 29th of March ; but 
four days before this time arrived, Lee made his last 
struggle to escape the gripe of Grant's anaconda, and 
to realize the indefinite circumstance which was to 
clear up the horizon of Southern prospects. He 
massed his troops, and made an impetuous assault on 
Fort Steadman. The attack was so sudden and vio- 
lent, that for the moment it was a success, and the 
rebels were in full possession of the redoubt. But 
the Union guns were immediately pointed at the work, 
and a terrible fire poured in upon the enemy. The 
infantry charged upon the rebels in the fort, now cut 
off from their retreat, and two thousand of them were 
compelled to surrender. President Lincoln had been 
invited to review the troops ; but from a hill he was 
permitted to behold the recapture of the fort, which 
suited him better, as a spectacle. A general attack 
was ordered, and the Union line dashed gallantly for- 
ward, capturing the enemy's picket line, which they 
were unable to recover. 



318 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

About this time Sherman, whose army was at 
Goldsboro', made a hasty visit to City Point, where he 
had a consultation with the president, Grant, Meade, 
and Sheridan, and plans were matured to prevent a 
junction between Lee and Johnston. The lieutenant 
general's "hammering" process was now bringing 
forth its proper fruit in the rebel ranks. Deserters 
and stragglers from them were thicker than snow- 
flakes at Christmas. They had learned what Grant 
was. They had found that he was a fighting general, 
and they were not willing to be sacrificed to the Mo- 
loch of the South, battling for what was already a 
" Lost Cause." It was confidently believed that Lee 
was more intent upon the problem of retiring with 
his army than on that of longer protecting Richmond. 
His movement upon Fort Steadman was doubtless in- 
tended to facilitate his escape. 

Grant had no idea of permitting his wily foe to 
" retire." He was more desirous of capturing the 
rebel army than of taking Richmond. On the 29th 
of March — the day appointed for the grand move- 
ment — Sheridan was sent out to Dinwiddie Court 
House, south-west of Petersburg. The left of the 
main army had been advanced so that Grant's line 
extended from the Appomattox, below Petersburg, to 
Dinwiddiel Grant himself was at Gravelly Run, j 
between Sheridan and the left of the main body, 
watching coolly, but with the most intense anxiety, 
the development of his programme. Sheridan, in 
spite of the heavy rains which had rendered the roads 
impassable for wagons, floundered through the mud 
with his cavalry to Five Forks, where the enemy was 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 319 

in force. Warren, with the Fifth Corps, extended his 
lines nearly up to the same point. 

Sheridan " went in " with his usual impetuosity, and 
seized Five Forks. The enemy made a desperate at- 
tack upon Warren, and forced him back for a time, 
though he soon recovered from the shock and held his 
own. The enemy then turned upon Sheridan, occu- 
pying an isolated position, and compelled him slowly 
to fall back ; and he retreated upon Dinwiddie, instead 
of upon the main line, thus compelling the rebels in 
their pursuit to extend their line — a piece of strategy 
which called forth the warmest commendations of his 
commander. Grant, solicitous for his safety, sent two 
divisions of the Fifth Corps to Sheridan, who with 
this aid attacked the rebels on his front, and drove 
them back to Five Forks again. 

At this point the Confederates were in heavy force ; 
but Sheridan made his dispositions with remarka- 
ble skill, hurried up the Fifth Corps, and with his 
cavalry executed a brilliant manoeuvre, by which the 
battle was won, the rebels routed, and six thousand 
prisoners captured. By this bold and skilful move- 
ment, so admirably executed by Sheridan, the right 
of the rebel line was turned. In support of this op- 
eration on the left, Grant ordered a heavy bombard- 
ment to be kept up during the entire night of April i, 
the day on which Sheridan had fought this decisive 
action, and at four o'clock the next morning (Sunday) 
a combined assault was made with perfect success, 
which was followed up till the enemy broke from his 
lines, and fled from the lost field, following the road 
along the south bank of the Appomattox. 



320 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Richmond and Petersburg were lost to the rebels ! 

No tidings of these terrific conflicts had reached 
Richmond. The people still believed, as Jeff. Davis 
had taught them, that Richmond could hold out for 
twenty years before any force operating against it. 
Lee sent a message to the obstinate " president" of the 
Confederacy that the battle was lost, and that the 
army must flee from its strongholds. The despatch 
was handed to Davis while he was at church. He 
read it, hastily rose, and went out. He was ghastly 
pale, and his face revealed the disaster to all who 
saw it. He was alarmed for his personal safety, and 
perhaps trembled in view of the halter that hung to 
the allegorical " sour apple tree," which had been cel- 
ebrated in song all over the loyal land. Taking a 
train to the south, he left Richmond, which he was 
to enter again only as an indicted traitor. That 
night the city was evacuated in hot haste and set on 
fire by its late defenders, disappointed and desperate 
at the grand finale of Rebellion. General Weitzel_ 
entered and took possession the next morning. The 
flag of the redeemed Union waved triumphantly over 
the capital of Virginia. 

Grant was not looking after Richmond just now. 
I do not know that he made any mention of the place 
in his documents, but in his despatch to Sherman, on 
the 5th of April, he says, " Rebel armies are now 
the only strategic points to strike at." Acting on this 
view, he ordered the most vigorous pursuit of Lee. 
Sheridan was sent forward with his cavalry, and the 
Sixth Corps, now temporarily under his command. 
He continued to " hammer " whenever an opportunity 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 32I 

offered. At Sailor's Creek he struck the enemy a 
heavy blow, which resulted in the capture of sixteen 
guns, four hundred wagons, and seven thousand 
prisoners. 

The pursuit then became a hunt. Lee had lost his 
supplies, or had been cut off from them. On his 
arrival at Amelia Court House, he was compelled to 
halt, to rest his men, and gather up food for their sup- 
port from the country. This delay afforded the Union 
cavalry time to get ahead of him and destroy the Dan- 
ville Railroad, his chosen means of retreat to effect a 
junction with Johnston. 

The whole army of the Potomac was concentrated 
at Jettersville to attack Lee at Amelia, but he had 
fled, now bent upon reaching the mountains beyond 
Lynchburg. The pursuit was hurried up, Confederate 
supply trains captured, and the enemy reduced to des- 
perate straits. Their sufferings were intensely severe, 
hundreds of them dropping with sheer exhaustion, for 
the want of rest and food, while the majority were 
no longer able to carry their muskets. Crossing the 
river, Lee had dragged his weary way to Appomattox 
Court House. On the night of i\pril 6, a number 
of his officers informally met, and agreed that surren- 
der was all that was left to the miserable army, worn 
out, starved, and thinned by wholesale desertion. One 
of them informed Lee of their conclusion ; but what- 
ever he thought, he did not adopt their suggestion. 

The excellent Pollard does not hesitate to hint that 

Grant was a " butcher ; " but it is acknowledged that 

Lee had no hope of the campaign in which he had 

engaged a week before, and had only persisted in 

21 



322 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

fighting to please Davis. He waived his own opin- 
ion, and fought those bloody battles from Petersburg 
to Sailor's Creek, when he was satisfied there was no 
hope. What was he but a "butcher"? Is he not 
responsible for every life sacrificed at his order after 
he knew that the strife was hopeless? Lee was a 
skilful soldier, and if we could wipe out the fact that 
he was a traitor, that he fought against the govern- 
ment which had educated him to support it, and 
which he had sworn to defend ; if we could forget 
that his influence might have removed the stains of 
Andersonville, Belle Island, and other rebel prisons 
from the annals of the miserable Confederacy ; if he 
had ceased to shed blood when his conscience assured 
him treason could no longer flourish upon the sac- 
rifice, — we might hold him up as a hero. As it is, 
he deserves the infamy he has won. 

It was left for Grant to obey the promptings of hu- 
manity — for the "butcher" to make the overtures to 
stay the further useless flow of blood. 






LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 323 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken has a few Words to 
say about Lee 's Surrender, and demonstrates, to 
his own and his Reader's entire Satisfaction, that 
the illustrious Soldier is not an accidental Hero. 

IF Grant had been the " butcher " which the rebels 
declared him to be, if he had been less magnani- 
mous than he was, he would have compelled rather 
than "asked" the surrender of Lee's broken army. 
The Confederate general knew that he was surrounded, 
and that he was utterly incapable of fighting another 
general battle. Grant addressed the following letter 
to him from Farmville : — 

"April 7, 1S65. 

" General : The result of the last week must con- 
vince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on 
the part of the army of Northern Virginia in this strug- 
gle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to 
shift from myself the responsibility of any further 
effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of 
that portion of the Confederate States army known as 
the army of Northern Virginia. 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General" 



324 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Lee replied, in a note of the same date, that, though 
he did not entertain the opinion expressed by Grant 
of the hopelessness of further resistance, he recipro- 
cated the desire to avoid the useless effusion of blood, 
and asked what terms would be offered on condition 
of the surrender of his army. Pollard makes Lee say 
that he was not entirely of Grant's opinion of the 
hoplessness of further resistance. Pollard admires and 
glorifies Lee, and aims to soften the affectation of his 
letter, wherein he ignores the fact that his men were 
utterly demoralized, starved, unarmed, and unable 
either to fight or to run. That ridiculous Virginian 
pride which had sacrificed thousands of lives after the 
cause of the South was known to be hopeless, was 
still in the ascendency. 

On the 8th Sheridan captured twenty-five guns, four 
trains of cars with supplies, and a hospital train. 
Grant replied to Lee's disingenuous note, and, plead- 
ing in the interests of peace and humanity, dealing 
gently with the pride of the fallen Virginian, offered 
the most liberal terms. Peace being his chief desire, 
he insisted only on one condition — that the officers 
and men of the rebel army should, by the surrender, 
be disqualified for taking up arms again until properly 
exchanged. He proposed a meeting, to interchange 
views and regulate terms, thus magnanimously taking 
upon himself the initiative in what must be so disagree- 
able to the rebel general. 

Lee promptly replied that he had not proposed to 
surrender — only to ask the terms of Grant's proposi- 
tion. " To be frank, I do not think the emergency 
has arisen to call for the surrender of this army," he 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 325 

writes. How a Virginian gentleman, wedded to truth 
and honor, could make such a statement as this, passes 
the belief of one who was brought up to be faithful to 
the homely New England virtues. If the emergency 
had not arisen, then, in the surrender, Lee was a traitor 
to the South, as from the beginning he .had been to the 
national government. But he condescends to meet 
Grant. The lieutenant general declines to see Lee 
to make a treaty of peace, but he explains that peace 
will come when the South lays down its arms. On 
the 9th the rebels made a desperate effort to break 
through the cavalry which surrounded them, and force 
a way out of the net into which they had fallen. They 
were signally defeated, and held in their position. 
This was the last struggle, and the enemy was in the 
last corner of the " last ditch." A white flag soon 
appears in front of the Confederate line. Lee has 
come to his senses at last, and asks for an interview 
to arrange the terms of surrender. The emergency 
has actually arisen at last. 

The meeting took place in the house of Mr. Wilmer 
McLean. It was a grand occasion, worthy the pen 
of the historian or the pencil of the artist. The grand 
army of Northern Virginia had been " hammered " 
till there was almost nothing left of it. Grant had 
stuck to it from the Rapidan, thirteen months before, 
until only its shadow was now left, and even that was 
dissolving before its conqueror. 

Lee appeared dressed " more gayly " than usual, 
wearing the elegant sword presented to him by his 
friends, strictly observing all the requirements of 
courtesy. He was formal, precise, and still dignified, 



326 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

notwithstanding the humiliating task he was called 
upon to perform. Grant wore his ordinary uniform, 
but carried no sword. The terms of the surrender 
were agreed upon, and signed by both parties. The 
rebels were to be paroled, after marching out and 
stacking their arms. The officers were to retain their 
side arms, private horses, and baggage. Each officer 
and man was to be allowed to return to his home, not 
to be disturbed by United States authority so long as 
he observed his parole, and obeyed the laws in force 
where he resided. 

The rebel general acknowledged the magnanimity 
of his conqueror in giving him and his army such 
exceedingly favorable terms — terms which finally 
saved all included in their provisions from the penalty 
of treason. Even my friend Pollard begins to see that 
Grant is a noble-minded, magnanimous man, and 
praises his conduct without stint or measure. On the 
1 2th the army of Northern Virginia appeared for the 
last time on the stage as a body. They formed their 
last parade, stacked their arms, and parked their artil- 
lery, to be taken possession of by the Union troops. 
Grant was not present at this ceremonial, for he was not 
a man to indulge in any exultation over his fallen foe, 
and his delicacy was duly appreciated by the rebels. 
Pollard's testimony, at this point, indicates a just ap- 
prehension of the illustrious soldier ; a candid recogni- 
tion of those traits of character which I have tried to 
exhibit throughout my work ; and I cannot do better 
than quote his words. 

" Indeed, this Federal commander had, in the closing 
scenes of the contest, behaved with a magnanimity and 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 327 

decorum that must ever be remembered to his credit, 
even by those who disputed his reputation in other 
respects, and denied his claims to great generalship. 
He had, with remarkable facility, accorded honorable 
and liberal terms to the vanquished army. He did 
nothing to dramatize the surrender ; he made no- 
triumphal entry into Richmond ; he avoided all those 
displays of triumph so dear to the Northern heart; 
he spared everything that might wound the feelings 
or imply the humiliation of a vanquished foe. There 
were no indecent exultations, no ' sensations,' no 
shows ; he received the surrender of his adversary 
with every courteous recognition due an honorable 
enemy, and conducted the closing scenes with as much 
simplicity as possible." 

Seven thousand five hundred rebels only appeared 
as. the wreck of the army of Northern Virginia, though 
eighteen thousand " stragglers," hammered out of the 
line by Grant's persistent pounding, came forward and 
claimed the benefit of the surrender. After my cour- 
teous friend, the author of The Lost Cause, has so 
kindly furnished me with material for this biography, 
it pains me to be compelled to raise any further objec- 
tions to his veracity ; but his arithmetic is sadly at 
fault. lie struggles earnestly to convey the impression 
that Grant, from the Rapidan to Appomattox, was 
fighting a mere handful of men, which the Union army 
outnumbered in the ratio of three or four to one ; 
and some of Grant's Northern enemies, or lukewarm 
friends, have been too willing to use his figures. Pol- 
lard says Lee had thirty-three thousand, at both Rich- 
mond and Petersburg, in the first months of 1S65. 



328 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

He mentions twenty-five thousand five hundred at 
the surrender, acknowledges that five thousand were 
taken prisoners in the " shameful misfortune" at Five 
Forks, and permits us to imply that about the same 
number were captured at Sailor's Creek, — thus 
making up thirty-five thousand five hundred, without 
counting the killed and wounded, though he says of 
Fort Gregg, that only thirty of two hundred and fifty 
composing the garrison survived the defence. Long 
before the fortunes of the day became desperate in the 
extreme, Pollard groans over heavy losses and numer- 
ous stragglers. Undoubtedly the national army did 
outnumber the rebels. Either General Lee was no 
general, and was the stupidest fanatic that even the 
Southern Confederacy contained, or he had at least 
fifty thousand men under his command, which was 
by recognized military rules, a fair proportion, fighting 
behind elaborate fortifications, to the force of the 
national army. Thirty-three thousand men could not 
have held his lines twenty-four hours. In my humble 
opinion, he had from seventy-five to a hundred thou- 
sand men. I should cease to respect him as a rebel 
if he had not, for it would have been inhumanity and 
butchery for him to stand out with a less number. 

Grant immediately sent the main body of the army 
to Burkville. Sherman received the news of Lee's 
surrender, and Johnston ])roposed a meeting to arrange 
terms for a capitulation. They were drawn up, but 
sent to the capital for approval. The lieutenant gen- 
eral went immediately to Washington. His mission 
in the field was ended. His name was on every 
tongue as the greatest of conquerors. He had given 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 329 

the finishing stroke to the greatest rebellion the world 
had ever seen. All over the nation the people were 
rejoicing. Cannon thundered forth the joy of the 
country, and the old flag was spread to the breeze, 
tenfold more dear now that it waved again over a 
united nation. 

Grant went on his way quietly to the national 
capital, with no pomp and parade to announce the 
progress of the conqueror. He did not even go to 
Richmond on his way — the city which had been a 
stumbling-block in the path of the Union armies, now 
fallen by the might of his genius and his persistency. 
So quietly did he travel, that it was hardly known he 
had arrived. He hastened to the War Department, 
where the indefatigable Stanton heartily congratulated 
him. The lieutenant . general still meant business, 
though it was now the details of peace instead of those 
of war. On the morning of the assassination of Pres- 
ident Lincoln he attended a cabinet meeting. He 
suggested to the government that as the war was 
practically ended, the enormous expenses of the army 
should be immediately reduced. All drafting and re- 
cruiting in the loyal states were suspended, and large 
reductions were proposed. 

It was announced that Grant would attend the 
theatre in the evening with the president ; but having 
arrived on the day before, he was anxious to see his 
family, and started for Trenton. Probably the dagger 
which Booth flourished was intended for the lieu- 
tenant general ; but Providence had other work for 
him to do, and he was miraculously spared. On 
receiving the tidings of the assassination, he returned 



33° OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

instantly to Washington, and attended the funeral of 
his steadfast friend and supporter. 

Sherman's arrangement with Johnston was promptly 
disapproved by the government, and Grant went to 
Raleigh to smooth the way with his veteran friend to 
close up this unpleasant business. The surrender was 
received on the same terms that had been granted to 
Lee, and on this basis all the remaining armies of the 
Rebellion laid down their arms. Towards the last 
of May there was a grand review in Washington, 
which occupied two days. The brave veterans 
marched before the chief officers of the government 
and of the army ; then doffed their blue uniform, 
and became private citizens. This was the last act 
in the drama of the Great Rebellion, exhibiting the 
crowning glory of our republic in the facility with 
which legions of armed men lay aside their military 
character, and resort to the peaceful occupations of 
the country. 

The war was ended ! The thought thrilled the 
people even more than the fact of hostilities had in the 
beginning. The reflection was all the more thrilling 
because the strife had ended in victory. It makes us 
shudder to think of the condition of the country if it 
had ended in defeat, if the unconquerable spirit of 
the North would ever have let it end in such a calam- 
ity. The nation realized the blessing which was born 
of the triumph of the national arms. I can conceive 
of such a thing as the continuance of the war until 
both North and South were ruined — until the nation 
crumbled to pieces by the weight of its own miseries. 

From such a fate I honestly, candidly, and con- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 33 1 

scientiously believe Grant saved his country. There 
was no other man in all the land to accomplish the 
work which he performed. There was not another 
general who had the genius, the moral and mental 
attributes, for the stupendous task. I earnestly and 
gratefully recognize the inestimable value of the ser- 
vices even of those who failed to achieve what was 
expected and required of them. Those gallant men 
who successively commanded the army of the Poto- 
mac lacked some essential requisite in the sum total 
of character which the emergency demanded. Grant 
possessed them all, in such singular harmony that he 
alone could direct the army in the path to victory. 
All others failed ; Ire alone succeeded. 

It is hardly necessary to analyze the means by 
which he succeeded in his gigantic enterprise. Others 
turned back from the goal when their strategy failed, 
when the rules of warfare failed in their application. 
Grant used his strategy and his tactics to the utmost, 
and passed them for all they were worth. When they 
were no longer available, he " hammered " the enemy. 
When the old rules failed, he made new ones. He 
was an art and a science unto himself. 

I say Grant was the only man who could conquer 
the Rebellion ; the only one who had the elements of 
success in him. I, Bernard Galligasken, say this, and 
I speak advisedly, knowing what I say. During the 
war, men went from the ranks up to generals of divis- 
ion in a couple of years. If any one had any military 
talent, he went up like a rocket, and, alas ! he often 
went down like one, when he had soared to the ethe- 
real regions whose air he could not breathe and live. 



332 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

Almost all who were heroes in the first year of the 
war were laid on the shelf before it was half finished. 
Corporals became colonels, and major generals disap- 
peared from the scene of strife. If there was a skil- 
ful and patriotic man in the army, he was raised up ; 
if there was an unskilful one, he was pulled down, 
whatever height he had attained. The need of the 
nation was desperate, and it could court or flatter no 
man who was not successful. For three long years 
the army was hungry for a competent leader, but 
found him not. The government longed for a mighty 
man, and was always ready to give him all the honors 
and all the power it had, without asking his politics, 
his religion, his antecedents, or even his nationality. 
There was a chance for any man who had the needed 
ability ; the army, the people, the government, were 
ready to take him, when he won his laurel, elevate 
him to the highest position, go down on their knees 
before him, obey him, trust him, follow him. The 
path that Grant trod was open to every soldier, and, 
indeed, to every civilian. 

Where are McClellan, Fremont, Buell, Rosecrans, 
Pope, Hooker, Burnside? I believe that the country 
owes them all a debt of gratitude for what they did in 
the war, and ought to forgive them for what they did 
not do. All of them were placed in positions to 
achieve the high eminence which Grant reached. It 
is no discredit to them that they did not succeed in 
them. I am not willing to believe that it was their 
fault that they failed, even while each of them may 
justly be held responsible for his own mistakes. I 
only wish to show that each of them had, if not a fair 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 333 

chance, at least the same chaiice that Grant had ; cer- 
tainly none of them was more maligned, none of them 
more savagely treated by politicians and evil advisers 
in Washington. If some of them were not trusted as 
long as Grant, it was only because they did not ex- 
hibit abilities which gave the same promise of ulti- 
mate success. 

Grant was no accidental hero. I have followed 
him through the struggles of his brilliant career, and 
I declare upon my sacred honor as a soldier and an his- 
torian, that never a success did he win which he did 
not work for. Behold him at Donelson, threading his 
way, in the cold blasts of that bitter storm, among his 
weary, freezing soldiers, day after day and night after 
night, wresting victory from the opposing elements ! 
Could it have been an accident that he won that bril- 
liant victory, after the herculean labor he personally 
performed, after the severe sufferings which he per- 
sonally endured, after the savage fighting in which he 
personally engaged? Was it an accident, that, in the 
midst of disaster, he gave the startling order to charge 
upon the enemy's strong works, and made fighting 
men out of soldiers demoralized and defeated? Be- 
hold him in the Vicksburg campaign, standing up by 
the might of his potent will, and against the advice 
of all his trusted generals, cutting loose from his sup- 
plies, and fighting battle after battle, till the foe was 
driven within his stronghold ! Was this success an 
accident? See him sleeping on the ground with his 
faithful soldiers, with no covering but the stars ; see 
him marching by day and watching by night, attend- 
ing to the minutest details of the commissary and the 



334 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

quartermaster ! Every success was wrung from op- 
posing elements, and carried through over the most 
stupendous obstacle. See him, partially disabled, 
with his head pillowed upon a stump, in the pelting 
rain, after the hard-fought day at Shiloh, exhausted by 
his superhuman labors, stealing an hour of rest to 
keep him alive for the duties of another day — see 
him, and declare that accidental heroes are not made 
after this fashion ! Go with him, crippled in body, 
and worn but with suffering on a sick bed, to the 
gloom of defeat and starvation at Chattanooga ! Fol- 
low him as he moves about on his crutches through 
the streets of that beleaguered town, bringing light 
out of darkness, joy and victory out of misery and 
disaster. Not thus do accidental heroes soar to sub- 
lime heights. 

Accidental fortune is not thus constant. To the 
hero crowned with success, as Grant is, only a lofty 
patriotism,, a sublime devotion to his country, and a 
splendid genius, can be constant. These desert him 
never. These triumph over all obstacles, bearing 
their possessor to the loftiest pinnacle of fame, and, 
better still, to the highest place in the regards of a free 
and intelligent people, as they have borne Grant. No 
accident, no combination of accidents, could have 
lifted him up, or sustained him a single year. 

In the selection of his subordinates Grant won half 
his success. Cool, unbiassed judgment did its perfect 
work for him. His singleness of purpose freed him 
from bias. He raised men up, or he threw them 
down, only in the interests of the hallowed cause to 
which he gave his whole mind and heart. No man 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 335 

ever lived, or ever will live, who more entirely sunk 
himself in the work he had engaged to do. If any 
high officer stood in the way of the success of the 
Union arms, he was removed ; for Grant always knew 
his man. He was wholly free from personal preju- 
dice and partiality. He elevated no man who was 
not fit to be elevated. Of the prominent officers who 
stood the test of the war, every one was either raised 
up by Grant, or stood approved by him. Sherman 
and Sheridan were his proteges; Thomas owed his 
position as an independent commander to him ; Meade 
and Schofield have to thank him for the high places 
they hold to-day. He selected them for the great 
work they did ; and while they, in a sense, built him 
up, he afforded them the opportunity to which their 
ability entitled them. In building up himself, he 
built them up ; in saving the nation, they saved each 
other, and won imperishable renown. 

" The soldiers and sailors are not all for a sham 
hero, a creature of fortuitous circumstances," said a 
noted political general at a convention of which Wade 
Hampton and Forrest, ex-rebel generals, were mem- 
bers, to say nothing of the Northern traitors who had 
stabbed the government in the back during the whole 
course of the war. He alluded to Grant, the nominee 
of the national party of the Union — our Standard- 
Bearer in the contest which is to complete the victory 
won on the Southern battle-fields. This same politi- 
cal general was a brave man — as brave as any negro 
private whom his fellow-member in the convention 
butchered at Fort Pillow ; but he was the marplot of 
Grant's Vicksburg campaign. Scores of brave men 



336 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

were slaughtered at Champion's Hill by his criminal 
delay to obey his superior's orders. At Shiloh, Sher- 
man fought his division for him, because he did not 
know how himself. The key to this sneer about the 
" creature of fortuitous circumstances" is found in the 
fact that Grant removed from command the author 
of the phrase at Vicksburg, for publishing a stupid, 
ridiculous, and sensational order, wherein he arro- 
gated to himself the principal glory of the righting 
at Vicksburg, whereas he was notoriously dilatory, 
lax, and incompetent in the discharge of his duties. 
If the Lord, in his infinite wisdom, permitted any 
" sham heroes " to be inflicted upon our war-stricken 
nation, the author of this sentence was the principal 
of them. It was Grant's chief glory that he conquered 
in spite of such malignant obstacles in his path. But 
our glorious Standard-Bearer needs no defence at my 
hands, and I humbly apologize for bringing this viper 
of the New York Convention into my story. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 337 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious 
Soldier in his Career after the War, relates sev- 
eral Anecdotes of him, and respectfully invites 
the whole World to match him. 

THE war was ended, and far above every other 
man in the country, civilian or soldier, stood 
General Grant. In this sublime attitude he was still 
the same simple-hearted, plain, and unostentatious 
man. The people, full of admiration and gratitude, 
rendered every honor to the illustrious soldier which 
ingenuity could devise. Presents of every description 
poured in upon him. Two valuable houses, richly 
furnished, a library, and princely sums of money were 
given to him, and gratefully received, as tokens of the 
people's regard. He made several tours of pleasure 
and business, in which he was everywhere received 
with the most tremendous demonstrations of applause. 
There could be no mistaking his hold upon the people. 
They loved, admired, respected him. But in the 
midst of these splendid ovations, he was still modest, 
self-possessed, and dignified. 

In 1865 Grant visited the Senate Chamber at Wash- 
ington. He paid his respects to the senators, and left 
the room. When he had gone, one of the Democratic 
22 



33& OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

members declared that a great mistake had been made 
in appointing Grant a lieutenant general, for there 
wasn't a second lieutenant in the home-guard of his 
state who did not tw cut a bigger swell " than the man 
who had just left their presence ! When he was re- 
garded as an available candidate for the presidency 
during the war, he was approached on the subject by 
a zealous partisan. He declared that there was only 
one political office which he desired. When the war 
was over, he wanted to be elected mayor of Galena ! 
If successful, he intended to see to it that the sidewalk 
between his house and the depot was put in better 
order. In one of his excursions in 1865, he visited 
his former home at Galena. A magnificent reception 
welcomed him. Triumphal arches greeted him in the 
streets, in which were blazoned the victories he had 
won. In that which contained his house and the side- 
walk he condemned was one bearing the inscription, 
" General, the sidewalk is built." 

At Georgetown, where his childhood had been 
spent, and in whose streets he had first smelt gun- 
powder as a baby, the whole town turned out to 
see and to greet him with the homage due to the 
great conqueror. Here he made one of his longest 
speeches, amounting to something like ten lines ! In 
Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, he was received 
as no man ever had been before. At West Point, 
whither he had gone to pay his grateful respects to his 
alma mater, Lieutenant General Scott, his old com- 
mander in Mexico, presented him a copy of " Scott's 
Memoirs," inscribed, " From the oldest to the greatest 
General." If Scott's opinion, as a military man, is 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 339 

worth anything to the sceptic, here was his written 
indorsement of the preeminence of Grant. 

Grant made no speeches. In this respect he has 
been an enigma to the American people. He was a 
reticent man, in the fullest sense of the word. For 
my own part, I should as soon think of condemning 
Abraham Lincoln because he could not, or did not, 
turn back somersets on a tight rope, as to complain 
of Grant because he could not, or did not, make 
speeches. In this respect he does not differ from hun- 
dreds of other great men. Washington and Jefferson 
were very indifferent speech-makers. Napoleon wrote 
startling bulletins, but never distinguished himself as 
an orator. Grant's congratulatory orders are full of 
fire, and, better, full of sound common sense. His 
reports are replete with wisdom simply expressed, 
and they are models of compact narration. 

I wish to go a step further. I fully believe that 
Grant's reticence is one of the elements of his great- 
ness. It is impossible for me to think of him as a 
successful commander, if he had been a brawler, or 
even a great talker. Most emphatically was his 
silence, his reticence, " golden." I can point to not less 
than three generals, high in position, who might have 
been successful if they had possessed a talent for 
holding their tongues. But Grant has always said 
enough, and, better still, done enough, to enable the 
people to ascertain his opinions on great subjects be- 
fore the country. His position during the Rebellion, 
in regard to slavery, negro soldiers, and the general 
conduct of the war, was not concealed. The people 
knew just how he stood. His orders are open, unre- 



34-0 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

served ; and no man's record more thoroughly com- 
mits him to the people's policy than that of Grant. 
He was one of the first to give effective aid to the 
government, in enlisting and organizing negro troops 
— a subject so trying to the nerves of many of the old 
army officers, that they were either dumb, or arrayed 
in virtual opposition to the national policy. 

During the troubles between the president and 
Congress, Grant made no speeches, published no 
opinions on the disputed questions. The president is 
the constitutional commander-in-chief of the army, 
and in his purely military capacity, it would have 
been improper and indelicate for Grant to meddle 
with the controversy. But who doubted his senti- 
ments? Congress practically gave him the execution 
of its plan of reconstruction. It made laws, and de- 
pended upon him to carry them out. It is enough to 
know that Congress confided implicitly in him, and 
that he drew upon himself the hostility, and even the 
hatred, of the president, by his manly and straight- 
forward course. 

Grant's reticence was one of the elements of his 
success, I repeat. He kept his plans to himself. 
Even his subordinate generals were not often per- 
mitted Jo know them in advance of their execution. 
One of them visited the lieutenant general, intent 
upon ascertaining the programme of the chief. 

" What are your plans, general, for the conduct of 
the campaign?" asked the inquirer, not doubting that 
he had a perfect right to know. 

" General, I have a fine horse out here ; I want you 
to go and look at him," replied Grant, leading the way 
out of the tent. 



LIF^E OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 34 c 

The inquirer was mortally offended at the coolness 
with which his question was evaded. On another 
occasion, the editor of a leading political journal, a 
young man of fine abilities, but having a rather high 
estimate of his personal consequence, was presented 
to the lieutenant general. In the course of the con- 
versation, he attempted to draw from the silent hero 
some political opinion in regard to the South. Grant 
replied that they had some fine horses down south, 
and made an enemy of the politician. 

In his reticence there was a purpose; but his 
silence, so far as speech-making is concerned, is the 
offspring of constitutional modesty. He is not an 
off-hand speaker. George Francis Train can make a 
speech, but Grant cannot. Andrew Johnson can talk 
in public, but even his best friends have had abundant 
reason to wish that he could not. It is a notable fact 
that the greatest orators have generally failed to reach 
the highest positions of honor and trust. Webster, 
Clay, and Everett, besides being great statesmen, were 
brilliant men in the forum ; yet all of them died with- 
out occupying the seat of the president. But Grant 
is simply not an impromptu speaker. When the 
occasion requires, he reads his speech, as greater ora- 
tors than he are compelled to do. Even Everett never 
spoke without careful preparation, and the elaborate 
orations he delivered were generally in type before he 
declaimed them. I have no fears that Grant will fall 
short of the expectations even of the American people 
in this respect, when he has been elected to the presi- 
dency ; but I am equally confident that he will never 
become a shame and a scandal to the nation on ac- 
count of his vicious and unconsidered addresses. 



342 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

When the gold medal, which was voted by resolu- 
tion of Congress to Grant, after the campaign of 
Chattanooga, was finished, a committee from the two 
houses went down to City Point in a special steamer 
to present the elegant testimonial of the nation's grat- 
itude to the illustrious soldier. The members of the 
committee waited upon the lieutenant general, and 
arranged with him that the formal ceremony of the 
presentation 'Should take place on board of the head- 
quarters steamer, where ample accommodations were 
made for the party who were to witness the impressive 
scene. At the appointed time, the committee, with a 
few invited guests, appeared. The lieutenant general 
was attended by his staff, and a few other officers of the 
army, on duty at the post. One of the most interest- 
ing features of the occasion was the presence of Gen- 
eral Grant's family, including his wife, his son, and 
daughter. The youngest of the group was Master 
Jesse, a bright, handsome lad of six summers, who 
attracted no inconsiderable degree of attention, not 
only from his relation to the mighty man of the na- 
tion, but on account of his personal attributes. The 
guests were gathered together in the cabin of the 
steamer where the ceremony was to take place. The 
spokesman of the committee stepped forward, and in 
a neat and appropriate address presented the medal. 

General Grant's time came then, and, as usual on 
all similar occasions, he was greatly embarrassed. He 
could stand undisturbed while five hundred cannons 
were thundering in his ears, but he seems to have 
been afraid of the sound of his own voice. All pres- 
ent were curious to- know what he would say, and 




Alill-K. WHY DON T Noi SAY SO 



mething." — Page 343. 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 343 

how he would say it, for he had never made an im- 
promptu speech. The general appeared to be slightly 
agitated as soon as the congressman's speech had 
been concluded. He began to fumble about his pock- 
ets, just as a school-boy does on the rostrum. He was 
evidently looking for something, and he could not find 
it. The delay became painful and awkward in the 
extreme, not only to the general, but to his sympathiz- 
ing audience ; and little Jesse, his son, seemed to suf- 
fer the most in this prolonged interval. At last his 
patience was exhausted, and he cried out, — 
"Father, why don't you say something?" 
A burst of applause from the assembly greeted this 
speech, and it w r as plain that Jesse had said the right 
word at the right time. Inheriting some of his father's 
military genius, he had made a demonstration which 
turned the attention of the company for the time from 
the embarrassed general, who, taking advantage of 
the diversion, renewed the onslaught upon his pock- 
ets, and brought forth the written paper for which he 
had been searching. He then read his " impromptu" 
speech, which was a simple expression of his thanks, 
set forth in solid, phrase, for the distinguished honor 
which had been conferred upon him. The assembly 
were then invited to the spacious between-decks of 
the steamer, where a substantial collation had been 
prepared for them ; and Jesse was not the least hon- 
ored and petted of the party. 

It is sometimes awkward and unpleasant for a man 
in public life to be unable to make a speech, but ex- 
perience has demonstrated that it is often ten times 
more awkward and unpleasant to be able to make 



344 OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

one ; and better than any other gift can we spare in 
an American president that of off-hand-speech mak- 
ing. Grant is a thinking man, and his thought is the 
father of his mighty deeds. His most expressive 
speech was made to Sheridan : "Go in ! " In the 
army it was the common remark of the soldiers that 
Grant did not say much, but he kept up a»tremendous 
thinking. In his capacious brain there was room for 
all the multiplied details of a vast army. His mind 
contained a map of the theatre of operations, and he 
knew where everything and everybody was. He un- 
derstood how the battle was going miles away from 
his position. At The Wilderness he stood under a 
tree with General Meade, whittling, as he was wont 
to do when brooding in deep thought, smoking, of 
course, at the same time. An aid dashed furiously 
up to the spot, and announced that one of the corps 
holding an important position in the line had broken, 
and been driven from the field. Meade was intensely 
agitated, for the event indicated nothing but disaster. 
Grant smoked and whittled as coolly as though there 
had been no hostile armies on the continent. 

" Good God ! " exclaimed Meade, as the details 
were enlarged upon by the messenger. 

Still Grant whittled and thought. A minute elapsed 
before he spoke, in which he seemed to be consult- 
ing his mental map. 

" I don't believe it," said he, at last, while the mes- 
senger of disaster was still in his presence. 

The sequel proved that Grant was right, and the 
messenger direct from the scene was wrong. The bat- 
tle had surged in upon the national line for a moment, 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 345 

but there was no break, no defeat, no disaster. It has 
been observed that Grant whittles two ways — from 
and towards his body. When he is maturing a plan, 
solving a problem involved in his operations, he whit- 
tles tozvards himself, as if to concentrate within him 
some invisible magnetism floating in the air around 
him. But when his mind grasps the solution of the 
problem, when the plan is formed, he instantly re- 
verses the stick, and whittles from himself. Perhaps 
to the nation it does not make much difference which 
way he whittles, while it is patent to the world that 
he whittled down the Rebellion. 

In 1 866 Grant was made a full general, the office 
having been created especially for him. He was not 
a merely ornamental appendage of the government, 
but used a laboring oar in his lofty position. He was 
tender of the people's pockets, heavily drawn upon by 
the needs of the war. He introduced reforms into the 
army, largely curtailing the public expense-, and ex- 
hibiting a spirit of economy which was very hopeful 
in the people's candidate for the presidency. 

The war was ended, and with it slavery and the 
tyranny of one section over the other. The sword 
had done its work effectually, and the statesman's 
task of reconstruction was to be completed — a task 
hardly less difficult than putting down the Rebellion 
itself. Then commenced the unfortunate conllict 
between the president and Congress. The people, 
through their representatives, had adopted the present 
policy of reconstruction, sustaining it by their voices, 
their votes, and their influence. Grant believed in 
this system, and, so far as his military position would 



34^ °UR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

permit, gave his energies to its support. Congress, 
having full confidence in his integrity and his sound 
judgment, conferred upon him extraordinary powers. 
As the commander of all the armies while the South 
was held in military subjection, he had the power to 
advance or to thwart the people's policy. He main- 
tained it with all his ability, and thus became the very 
life and soul of the system. Stanton, the tried and 
true, in the cabinet, was a check upon the president 
in his insane attempts to usurp the powers of the legis- 
lative branch of the government, and to thwart the 
expressed will of the people. 

At last the president removed him, subject to the 
approval of Congress, under the tenure of office act, 
and Grant was appointed secretary of war ad interim. 
In the lieutenant general's letter to Stanton — his con- 
stant friend and tried supporter during the war — he 
takes the occasion to express his appreciation of the 
zeal, patriotism, firmness, and ability with which the re- 
tiring officer had ever discharged his duty as secretary 
of war, thus preventing any misunderstanding of his 
position. In a private letter to the president the gen- 
eral protests smartly and warmly against the removal 
of Stanton and of Sheridan, the latter in command of 
the Fifth Military District. This letter was an admi- 
rable paper, as plucky as it was cogent in its reason- 
ing ; but it had no influence upon the stubborn w T ill 
of. the president. As secretary of war, Grant signal- 
ized his brief term by acts of immense importance in 
the reduction of expenses. On the reassembling of 
Congress, the Senate declined to acquiesce in the re- 
moval of Stanton, and the general immediately sur- 



LIFE OF GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 347 

rendered the office to its legal incumbent. It appeared 
that the president had no intention of permitting the 
law of Congress to take its course, but designed to dis- 
obey and disregard it. He attempted to make Grant 
the cat's-paw of his vicious purposes ; but the sterling 
honesty and simple integrity of the illustrious soldier 
carried him safely through the ordeal. From begin- 
ning to end, Grant had resisted all overtures to indorse 
the president's policy. In the grand " swinging round 
the circle " of the president, the general had the hu- 
miliation of being one of the party, and was heartily 
ashamed of his company ; but in no other respect did 
he ever go with him or form one of his party. In 
Grant's letters to " His Excellency," the writer was 
fully justified before the country. 

On the 20th of May, 1868, the National Republican 
Convention met at Chicago to nominate candidates 
for the presidency and vice-presidency. It was hard- 
ly necessary to nominate Grant, for he had already 
been fixed upon by the people for their suffrages ; but 
the convention, on the first ballot, unanimously nomi- 
nated him for this high office. The news of this great 
event was carried to him at once. He was unmoved 
by it, but asked immediately for the platform. This 
he carefully read, and heartily indorsed. The honor 
conferred upon him so unanimously was the most 
flattering compliment which had been bestowed upon 
any man since the time of Washington ; but he only 
asked to know what principles he was expected to 
represent. 

And now my delightful task is ended, though I 
shall never cease to proclaim the admiration and 



34S OUR STANDARD-BEARER, OR 

gratitude with which I regard the illustrious soldier 
on all proper occasions. As I look upon my poor 
work, I feel that I have failed to do justice to the sub- 
blime subject of my memoir. I cannot express all I 
feel. From Palo Alto* to Appomattox I have followed 
him in his grand career, and I hold him up as a sol- 
dier confidently challenging the whole world, — 

Match Him ! 

In the elements of magnanimity, regard for the 
rights of others, undeviating honor and truth, I say, — 

Match Him ! 

As the foremost man in putting down the Rebellion, 

first in war and first in the hearts of his countrymen, 

I add, — 

Match Him ! 

As a man, cool, resolute, and unflinching in the dis- 
charge of every duty, proving, by what he has done, 
what he is able to do in civil as well as in military 

life, I say, — 

Match Him ! 






OLIVER OPTIC'S MAGAZINE, 




llil 



t 



The only Original American Juvenile Magazine published once a Week. 

EDITED BY OLIVER OPTIC, 

Who writes for no other juvenile publication — who contributes each year 

The cost of which in book form would be $5.00 — double the subscription 
price of the Magazine ! 

Each number (published every Saturday) handsomely illustrated by 
Thomas Nast, and other talented artists. 



Among the regular contributors, besides Oliver Optic, are 
SOPHIE MAY, author of " Little Prudy and Dotty Dimple Stories." 
ROSA ABBOTT, author of" Jack of all Trades," &c. 
MAY MAINTNERING, author of " The Helping-Hand Series," &c. 
WIRT SIKES, author of "On the Prairies," &c. 
OLIVE LOGAN, author of " Near Views of Royalty," Ac. 
REV. ELIJAH KELLOGG, author of " Good Old Times," &c. 
Each number contains 16 pages of Original Stories, Poetry, Articles of 
History, Biography, Natural History, Dialogues, Recitations, Facts and 
Figures, Puzzles, Rebuses, &c. 

Oliver Optic's Magazine contains more reading matter than any 
other juvenile publication, and is the Cheapest and the Best Periodical of 
the kind in *,he United States. 



TERMS, I3V ADVANCE. 

Single Subscriptions, one year, $2.50 I Three copies, $6 j.50 

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arrangements will be made with those who apply to the Publishers. 

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for binding the numbers for the year for 50 cts. All the numbers for 1607 
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Any boy or girl who will write to the Publishers shall receive a speci- 
men copy by mail free. 

LEE Sc SHEPARD, Publishers, 

149 Washington Street, Boston. 



library for young people, 

BY OLIVER, OPTIC. 
I. 

THE BOAT CLUB; 

OR, THE BUNKERS OF RIPPLETON. 
II. 

ALL ABOAED; 

OR, LIFE ON THE LAKE. 
TIL 

LITTLE EY LITTLE; 

OR, THE CRUISE OF THE FLYAWAY. 
IV. 

TEY AGAIN; 

is THE TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 
V. 

NOW OE NEVEE, 

OR, THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY BRIGHT. 
VI. 

POOE AND PEOUD; 

OR, THE FORTUNES OF KATY REDBURN. 
Six volumes, put up in a neat box. 



LEE & STTET?A.:RX>, !Pi:iblis:her& 



WOODVILLE STORIES, 

BY OLIVER, OPTIC. 

I. 
RICH AND HUMBLE; 

Or, The Mission of Bertha Grant, 

II. 

IIV SCHOOL AND OTTT ; 

Or, The Conquest of Richard Grant ;, 

III. 
WATCH AND WAIT; 

Or, The Young fugitives. 

iv. 

• WORK AND WIN; 
Or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise. 

V. 
HOPE AND HAVE; 

Or. Fanny Grant among the Indians,, 

VI. 
HASTE AND WASTE; 

Or, The Young Pilot of Lalce Champlain. 



H.EE & SHEPARD, Publishers. 



THE ARMY AND NAVY STORIES. 

In Six Yolumes. 

BY OLIVER OPTIC. 



I. 

THE SOLDIER BOY; 
Or, Tom Somers in the Army. 

II. 

THE SAILOR BOY; 

Or, Jack Somers in the Navy. 

III. 
THE YOUNG LIEUTENANT; 

Or, The Adventures of an Army- Officer. 
A SEQUEL TO "THE SOLDIER BOY." 

IV. 
THE YANKEE MIDDY; 

Or, The Adventures of a Naval Officer. 
A SEQUEL TO "THE SAILOR BOY." 

V. 

FIGHTING JOE; 

Or, The Fortunes of a Staff Officer. 

A SEQUEL TO "THE YOUNG LIEUTE3TA:s/T." 

VI. 

BRAVE OLD SALT; 

Or, Life on the Quarter Deck. 

A SEQUEL TO "THE YANKEE MIDDY." 

(I) 



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